CIHM 

ICMH 

Microfiche 

Collection  de 

Series 

microfiches 

(IVIonographs) 

(monographies) 

Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microredroductions/lnstitut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiques 


©2000 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers  / 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged  / 


Couverture  endommag^e 


□    Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  peilicul^e 

Cover  title  missing  /  Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

I Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 

□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

I    /]    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 
l-!iJ    Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material  / 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 

Only  edition  available  / 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion  along 
interior  margin  /  La  reliure  serr6e  peut  causer  de 
I'ombre  ou  de  la  distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge 
interieure. 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have  been 
omitted  from  filming  /  II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages 
blanches  ajoutees  lors  d'une  restauration 
apparaissent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  ^tait 
possible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  et6  filmees. 

Additional  comments  /  Various  pagings. 

Commentaires  suppl6mentaires: 


n 


D 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire  qu'il  lui  a 
6X6  possible  de  be  procurer.  Les  details  de  cet  exem- 
plaire qui  sont  peut-§tre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bibli- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  una  image  reproduite, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modification  dans  la  m^tho- 
de  normale  de  filmage  sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 

I         Coloured  pages  /  Pages  de  couleur 

I I   Pages  damaged  /  Pages  endommag6es 


D 


Pages  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellicul^es 


Q  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed  / 
Pages  d^olor^s,  tachet^es  ou  piqu^es 

I      I   Pages  detached  /  Pages  d6tach6es 

\\/\   Showthrough / Transparence 

I      I   Quality  of  print  varies  / 


n 


D 


Quality  in^gale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material  / 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppl^mentaire 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  en-ata  slips, 
tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  totalement  ou 
partiellement  obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une 
pelure,  etc.,  ont  ^t^  filmees  a  nouveau  de  fafon  k 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 

Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
discolou  rations  are  filmed  twice  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant  ayant  des 
colorations  variables  ou  des  decolorations  sont 
filmees  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la  meilleure  image 
possible. 


y 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below  / 

Ce  document  est  IWmi  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu^  ci-dessous. 


10x 

14x 

18x 

22x 

26x 

30x 

V 

12x 


16x 


20x 


24x 


28x 


32x 


The  copy  filmed  her*  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Ndtiondl  Cdllery  of  Canadd, 
Library 


L'exemplaire  film*  fut  reproduit  grace  A  la 
g*n4rosit*  de: 

Nu&ee  des  Beaux -Arts  du  Canada, 
Bibliotheque 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications- 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  eppro^-iate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Thr  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ^^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6tA  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet*  de  rexcmplaira  film*,  at  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exempleires  originaux  dont  la  couverturs  an 
papier  est  imprimAe  sont  filmAs  en  commancant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinta 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmits  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinta 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derniire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  salon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  "^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE '.  le 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc..  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  etre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diff^rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  atra 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA.  il  est  film^  i  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


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MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  and  ISO   If  SI   t  HARI   No     2 


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^     APPLIED   ItVMGE     Inc 


THE  MYTHOLOGY  OF  ALL  RACES 


Volume  I 
GREEK  AND  ROMAN 


\'oM-ME  I.    Orifk  and  Roman 
WiLUAB  SRKiiwo<,n  F"X,  Ph.D.,  Pnniei„n  Univeruty. 

\()H  ME  II.     Taitonic 
Axr.i  OuiK,  I'h  I) ,  t'niversiiy  uf  lopfnhiwen. 

\oi,rME  HI.    Celtic,  Sliiric 

Can.   •  John  A.  .M  u  ('i  ii,»h,  |, d  .  Hri,l«  of  Allan.  Scoll.nd. 

jAN  .Machai.  I'h  I) ,  bohrmian  University.  Prague. 

\oi.iME  IV.     Finno-l'grk.  Siberian 
UNO  HulMBtKG,  Ph.D  .  l-nivtrsity  u(  hnl,,n,J,  Hclsijurfors. 

VoLrnre  V.    Semitic 
R.  (AMPBtLt  TB.iMps„N.  M.A..  K.S.A  ,  K.R  G  S.,Oiford. 

\0LtME  VI.    Indian.  hani,in 

V  Hkr.,kd,le  Keith   H.C  L  .  E,|inl,ur«h  Inivenily. 
/VLBtar  J    I  ,,i,Nuv,  Ph.D  ,  Lniversiiy  ol  Luuvain. 

VoLiME  VII.    Armenian,  African 
Ma.u.h„s  Akanuian.  B  D.  Kmnciy  School  „t  Mmions.  Hart- 

'«>rd,  C  nnnecticut. 
CLuKct  FoucAEi,  Docleuris  Le„r.s.  French  Institute  of  Orient.l 

Archeology.  Cairo. 

Volume  \III.    Chinese,  Japanese 

V  HATT.IBI,  Litt  D  .  Univer-ity  of  Tokyo 

Uapant,'  l:x, hangi  P,„jfsw,  at  llana,d  Unmriily.  i^,s-,ui6, 

.Masabard  A.VKSALI,  Li.t  IJ  ,  University  of  Tokyo. 
Ua^«s,  tiilunie  P,oUs,o,  al  Uanard  Umivfrsily,  .q'j-,,,,,) 

Volume  LX.    Oceanic 

Roland  Bokrace  i)ix..n.  Ph.D.,  Harvard  University. 

Volume  X.    American  {Xorlh  of  Mexico) 

Hartiev  Burr  Alexander.  Pb  D.,  University  of  Nebra.ska. 

Volume  XI.    American  (Lilin) 
Hartley  Bcrr  .^exander,  Ph.D  ,  University  of  .Nebraska. 

Volume  XII.    Egypt,  Far  East 
VIV  Max  .Muller,  Ph  D..  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
Sir  Jaues)  George  Scott.  K.C.I  E.,  London. 

Volume  XIII.    Index 


i 


F'LATF.    I 

Aphroditf  thk  Mother 

On  Aphrodite's  left  arm  originally  rested  an  infant, 
the  finders  of  whose  little  hand  may  still  be  seen  on  the 
drapery  of  its  mother's  bosom.  The  goddess  is  look- 
ing straight  before  her,  not,  however,  with  her  vision 
concentrated  on  a  definite  object,  but  rather  abstract- 
edly, as  if  serenely  proud  of  her  motherhood.  She 
seems  to  represent  here  that  special  development  of 
the  earth  goddess  who  typified  the  kindly,  fostering 
care  of  the  soil,  and  reminds  one  of  certain  Asiatic 
images  of  the  divine  mother  and  child.  From  a 
marble  statue  of  the  fourth  or  third  century  B.C., 
found  on  the  Greek  mainland,  and  now  in  the  Royal 
Ontario  Museum  of  Archaeology,  Toronto  {photo- 
graph).    See  pp.  i96fF. 


lI  .t. 


THE  MYTHOLOGY 
OF  ALL  RACES 

IN  THIRTEEN  yOLUMES 
LOUIS    HERBERT    GRAY,  A.M.,  PH.D.,  Editor 

GEORGE    FOOT   MOORE,   A.M.,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Conjdltinc  Edito« 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN 


BY 

WILLIAM  SHERWOOD  FOX,  A.M.,  PH.D. 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  OF  CLASSICS 
PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 


VOLUME   I 


BOSTON 

MARSHALL    TONES  COMPANY 

M  DCCCC  XVI 


Copyright,  1916 
By  Marshall  Jones  Company 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 


^U  rights  reserved 
Printed  June,  1916 


PRINTED   IN  THE    -NITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA   BY   THE   UNIYERSITY  PRESS 
CAMBRIDGE,   MASSACHUSETTS 

BOUND   BY  THE   BOSTON    BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 


TO   THE   MEMORY 

OF 

HARRY   LANGFORD   WILSON 


SCHOLAR   •   TEACHER    •   FRIEND 


CONSULTING  EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

THERE  are  many  good  books  on  the  mythology  of  par- 
ticular peoples  or  races,  ancient  and  modern,  and  much 
material  accessible  in  books  of  travel  and  works  on  ethnology 
and  religion;  for  classical  antiquity  excellent  dictionaries  of 
mythology  exist.  There  are  also  books  of  narrower  or  wider 
range  on  comparative  mythology,  besides  many  in  which 
myth  and  custom  have  been  pressed  into  the  service  of  theories 
of  society,  civilization,  and  religion,  or  are  adduced  for  the 
illustration  of  art  and  archaeology.  But  a  comprehensive 
collection  by  competent  scholars  of  myths  from  all  quarters 
of  the  earth  and  all  ages  has  not  hitherto  been  attempted; 
for  several  important  parts  of  the  field,  no  satisfactory  works 
exist  in  English,  while  in  some  there  is  none  in  any  language. 
On  the  value  of  an  undertaking  like  the  Mythology  of  All 
Races,  therefore,  no  words  need  be  spent. 

The  intrinsic  interest  of  the  subject  is  very  great;  for  better 
than  almost  anything  else  myths  reveal  men's  first  notions 
about  their  world  and  the  powers  at  work  in  it,  and  the  rela- 
tions between  men  and  those  powers.  They  show  what  things 
in  their  surroundings  early  engaged  men's  attention;  what 
things  seemed  to  them  to  need  explanation;  and  how  they 
explained  them. 

For  a  myth  is  commonly  an  explanation  of  something,  in 
the  form  of  a  story  —  what  happened  once  upon  a  time,  or 
what  repeats  itself  from  day  to  day  —  and  in  natural  myths, 
as  distinct  from  the  invented  myths  of  philosophers  and  poets, 
the  story  is  not  the  artificial  vesture  of  an  idea  but  its  spon- 
taneous expression,  not  a  fiction  but  a  self-evident  fact.  The 
student  of  the  mind  of  man  in  its  uniformity  and  its  varia- 


vin 


CONSULTING  EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


tions  therefore  finds  in  mythology  a  great  fund  of  instructive 
material.  A  comprehensive  collection  like  the  present  lends 
itself  also  to  comparative  study  of  single  myths  or  systems  of 
myth  among  different  and  widely  remote  peoples,  and  this 
use  of  the  volumes  will  be  facilitated  by  a  suitable  analytical 
index. 

It  is  one  of  the  merits  of  this  collection  that  it  is  made  for 
its  own  sake,  with  no  theory  to  maintain  or  illustrate.  The 
contributors  have  been  given  free  hand  to  treat  their  subjects 
by  such  methods  as  may  be  best  adapted  to  the  nature  of  the 
sources  and  the  peculiarities  of  the  mythology  itself,  without 
any  attempt  to  impose  upon  either  the  material  or  the  writers 
a  schematic  plan. 

The  names  of  the  contributors  are  a  sufficient  guarantee  of 
the  thoroughness  and  trustworthiness  of  their  work,  while  the 
general  editor  is  himself  a  scholar  of  wide  attainments  in  this 
field.  The  volumes  will  be  amply  illustrated,  not  for  the  sake 
of  making  picture  books,  but  for  the  legitimate  purposes  of 
illustration  —  a  feature  which  will  add  much  to  the  useful- 
ness as  well  as  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  series.  Taken  all  in 
all,  therefore,  the  Mythology  of  All  Races  may  safely  be  pro- 
nounced one  of  the  most  important  enterprises  of  this  age  of 
co-operative  scholarship. 

GEORGE   FOOT  MOORE. 

Harvard  I'viversity 
.March  ;o,  1916. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


THE  theme  of  mythology  is  of  perennial  interest,  and, 
more  than  this,  it  possesses  a  value  that  is  very  real.  It 
is  a  document  and  a  record  —  existing  not  merely  in  the  dim 
past,  but  in  the  living  present  —  of  man's  thought,  of  his 
ceaseless  endeavour  to  attain  that  very  real  happiness  which, 
as  Vergil  tells  us,  arises  from  "knowledge  of  the  causes  of 
things."  Even  in  his  most  primitive  stages  of  development 
man  finds  himself  dwelling  in  a  world  filled  with  phenomena 
that  to  him  are  strange,  sometimes  friendly,  often  hostile. 
Why  are  these  things  so.'  Rightly  mankind  perceives  that  a 
phenomenon  is  not  a  Thing  in  Itself,  an  Absolute,  but  that  it 
is  an  effect,  the  result  of  a  cause.  Now,  the  immediate  cause 
may  often  be  found;  but  then  it  will  be  seen  that  this  cause  is 
itself  only  a  result  of  an  anterior  cause;  and  so,  step  by  step, 
the  search  for  ultimate  Cause  proceeds.  Thus  mythology  is 
a  very  real  phase  —  perhaps  the  most  important  primitive 
phase  —  of  that  eternal  quest  of  Truth  which  ever  drives  us 
on,  though  we  know  that  in  its  full  beauty  it  may  never  be 
revealed  to  mortal  eye  nor  heard  by  ear  of  man  —  that  quest 
more  precious  than  meat  or  raiment  —  that  quest  which  we 
may  not  abandon  if  we  will  still  be  men. 

\Iythology  is  not,  then,  a  thing  of  mere  academic  interest; 
its  value  is  real  —  real  to  you  and  to  me.  It  is  the  history  of 
the  thought  of  early  man,  and  of  primitive  man  today.  In  it 
we  may  find  much  to  tell  us  how  he  lived,  and  how  he  had 
lived  in  the  ages  of  which  his  myths  recount.  As  affording  us 
materials  for  a  history  of  civilization  mythology  is  of  inestim- 
able value.    We  know  now  that  history  is  something  more  than 


X  EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

a  matter  of  dates  and  events.  "Magna  Charta  was  signed  by- 
King  John  at  Runnimede  in  1215."  What  of  it,  if  that  be  all? 
The  exact  words  of  the  document,  the  particular  monarch  who 
signed  it,  the  precise  spot,  the  specific  date  are  of  no  worth 
in  themselves.  The  real  historical  question  is — What  were  the 
causes  which  led  the  English  Barons,  at  a  certain  point  in,  the 
development  of  the  British  Nation,  to  compel  the  King  to  sanc- 
tion a  document  abridging  the  Royal  prerogatives;  and  what 
havf  been  the  consequences,  not  merely  to  the  subsequent  evo- 
lution of  the  British  Constitution,  but  to  all  States  and  Colonies 
thereby  affected.'  So,  too,  we  read  mythology,  not  only  for 
its  specific  statements  —  its  legends  of  gods  and  of  heroes,  its 
theories  of  the  world,  and  its  attempts  to  solve  the  mystery  of 
the  destiny  of  each  and  every  individual  —  but  also,  with  a 
wider  pur^'iew,  for  the  light  which  it  sheds  upon  the  infancy 
ind  the  childhood  of  the  race  to  which  we  —  you  who  read 
and  I  who  write  —  belong. 

Science;  has  mythology  aught  to  do  with  that.'  Assuredly, 
yes.  Mythology  is  science  in  its  infancy.  Does  the  geologist 
seek  to  determine  how  the  earth  came  into  being,  how  the 
mountains  and  the  lakes  were  formed;  does  the  astronomer 
essay  to  know  the  stars  and  their  natures;  do  the  zoologist  and 
the  botanist  endeavour  to  explain  why  animals  and  trees  are 
as  they  are  —  the  maker  of  myth  does  even  the  same.  The 
scientist  today  is  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  myth-maker  of 
olden  days.  To  say  this  is  to  honour  both  alike  —  both,  with 
all  the  light  at  their  command,  have  sought,  and  ever  seek, 
the  Truth.  The  hypotheses  of  the  myths,  do  they  differ  in 
principle  from  the  hypotheses  of  science?  We  think  not. 
There  is  no  real  scientist  who  does  not  know  that  the  hypotheses 
with  v/hich  he  needs  must  work  and  which  seem  thus  far  in- 
fallible in  providing  explanations  for  all  phenomena  in  his  field 
may  some  day  be  modified  or  even  utterly  destroyed  by  new 
discoveries.  The  Ptolemaic  Theory  is  gone,  the  Atomic  Theory 
is  questioned.    But  no  sane  man  will  for  that  reason  condemn 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


XI 


hypotheses  in  toto,  neither  will  he  despise  those  who,  in  their 
day,  held  hypotheses  then  deemed  irrefutable. 

The  connexion  of  mythology  with  religion  is  obvious,  yet  a 
word  of  caution  is  needed  here.  Mythology  is  not  synony- 
mous with  religion,  but  only  a  part  of  it.  Religion  consists 
of  at  least  three  parts  —  the  attitude  of  soul,  which  is  religion 
par  excellence;  the  outward  act  of  worship,  which  is  ritual; 
and  the  scientific  explanation,  which  —  in  the  very  highest  and 
noblest  sense  of  the  term  —  is  myth;  and  these  three  —  which 
we  may  call  the  attitude  of  soul,  body,  and  mind  —  go  to- 
gether to  make  religion.  Throughout  our  study  of  mytholog:' 
we  must  bear  constantly  in  mind  that  we  are  dealing  with 
only  one  feature  of  religion  —  its  causal  aspect.  We  must 
not  take  the  part  for  the  whole,  else  we  shall  be  one-sided  and 
unjust  in  our  appreciation  of  religion  as  a  whole. 

One  attitude  of  mind  is  absolutely  essential  in  reading  my- 
thology —  sympathy  —  and  almost  as  important  a  requisite 
is  that,  while  reading  it,  its  premisses  must  be  granted. 
If  we  approach  mythology  with  the  preconception  that  it  is 
false  or  nonsensical  or  trivial,  it  will  be  but  waste  of  time  to 
read  it;  indeed  it  will  be  better  never  to  have  read  it,  for  read- 
ing in  such  a  spirit  will  only  embitter.  It  is,  perhaps,  not 
sufficiently  recognized  how  important  a  factor  one's  attitude 
of  sympathy  is,  not  merely  in  regard  to  religion  or  psychology 
or  philosophy,  or  any  other  "mental  and  moral  science,"  but 
also  toward  the  "exact  sciences."  If,  for  example,  I  make  up 
my  mind  that  spectral  analysis  is  utterly  impossible,  the  dis- 
covery of  a  new  element  in  the  gaseous  emanation  of  a  distant 
planet  by  such  analysis  will  be  to  me  nothing  but  folly.  If, 
again,  I  reject  the  mathematical  concept  of  infinity,  which 
I  have  never  seen,  and  which  cannot  be  weighed  or  measured, 
then  I  shall  of  course  deny  that  parallel  lines  meet  in  infinity; 
you  cannot  give  me  the  precise  location  of  infinity,  and,  be- 
sides, all  parallel  lines  that  I  have  ever  seen  are  equidistant  at 
all  points  from  each  other.   This  is  a  reductio  ad  absurdum  of 


Xll 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


an  attitude  which  is  far  too  common  in  regard  to  mythology 
and  religion.  This  does  not,  of  course,  mean  that  we  must 
implicitly  believe  all  that  we  read;  but  it  docs  mean  that  we 
should  approach  with  kindly  hearts.  With  reverence,  then, 
and  with  love  we  take  up  myths.  We  may  smile,  at  times,  at 
their  naivete;  but  we  shall  never  sneer  at  them.  Unblushing, 
sometimes,  we  shall  find  them,  and  cruel;  but  it  is  the  un- 
modesty  and  the  cruelty  of  the  child.  Myths  may  be  moral 
or  un-moral;  they  are  not  immoral,  and  only  a  morbid  mind 
will  see  unclcanncss  in  them. 

Xo  attempt  has  hitherto  been  made  to  collect  the  myths 
of  the  entire  uuman  race  into  a  single  scries.  Yet  this  is  not 
so  strange  as  it  might  appear  at  first.  Scattered  in  many 
volumes  both  old  and  new,  and  in  periodicals  of  many  kinds 
and  languages,  it  is  an  impossible  task  for  one  man  to  know 
all  myths,  or  to  master  mere  than  one  or  two  specific  mythol- 
ogies or  a  few  special  themes  in  mythology  as  a  whole.  It  is 
quite  true  that  countless  volumes  have  been  written  on  the 
myths  of  individual  peoples  and  on  special  mythic  themes, 
but  their  assemblage  into  a  single  unit  has  not  thus  far  been 
accomplished.  This  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  scries  of  the 
Mythology  of  Jll  Races,  and  this  the  reason  for  its  being. 
Herein  it  differs  from  all  other  collections  of  mythologies  in 
that  the  mythology  of  each  race  is  not  merely  given  a  special 
volume  or  half-volume  of  its  own;  but,  since  the  series  is  an 
organic  entity  —  not  a  chance  collection  of  monographs  — 
the  mythology  of  an  individual  race  is  seen  to  form  a  coherent 
part  of  mythology.  Moreover,  the  mythology  of  one  people 
will  not  infrequently  be  found  to  cast  light  upon  problems  con- 
nected with  the  mythic  system  of  quite  another  people,  whence 
an  accurate  and  a  thorough  understanding  of  any  individual 
mythology  whatever  demands  an  acquaintance  with  the  mythic 
systems  of  mankind  as  a  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  by  thus 
taking  a  broad  survey,  and  by  considering  primarily  the  simple 
facts  —  as  presented  chiefly  by  travellers,  missionaries,  and 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


Xll' 


anthropologists  —  we  may  hope  to  escape  some  of  the  pecu- 
liar dangers  which  beset  the  study  of  mythology,  especially 
preconceived  theories  and  prejudices,  and  the  risk  of  taking 
for  aboriginal  what  is  really  borrowed  and  vice  versa.  We  shall 
advance  no  special  theory  of  mythology  which  shall  seek  to 
solve  each  and  every  problem  by  one  and  the  same  formula; 
\vc  shall  aim  to  present  the  facts  in  the  case  —  and  the  theories 
may  safely  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  themselves,  being  then 
wisely  built  on  solid  foundations. 

We  have  not  attempted  to  make  an  encyclopaedia  of  myth- 
ology, nor  have  we  planned  a  mere  reference  book,  which  would 
have  been,  in  many  ways,  an  easier  task.  We  have  had  con- 
stantly in  mind  not  only  the  technical  student  —  though  he, 
too,  if  the  editor's  own  experience  be  any  criterion,  will  learn 
much  —  but  the  more  general  reader  who  desires  breadth  of 
understanding,  and  who  would  know  what  the  childhood  of 
our  race  has  thought  of  the  mysteries  of  nature  and  of  life, 
and  how  it  has  endeavoured  to  resolve  them.  We  have  sought 
to  be  scientific  —  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term  —  but  we  have 
also  sought  to  present  a  book  that  shall  be  eminently  readable, 
that  shall  set  forth  myths  as  living  entities,  and  that  —  because 
each  writer  knows  and  loves  the  mythology  of  which  he  treats 
—  will  fill  the  reader  with  enthusiasm  for  them. 

Much  of  the  material  here  given  appears  for  the  first  time 
in  the  English  language  —  Slavic  and  Finno-Ugric,  Oceanic, 
Armenian,  and  African.  No  survey  of  American  mythology 
whole  has  hitherto  been  written.    Even  where  —  as  in 


as  a 


Indian,  Teutonic,  and  Semitic  —  English  monographs  exist, 
new  points  of  view  are  presented.  Taking  our  stand  on  the 
best  modern  scholarship,  we  venture  to  hope  that  many  cur- 
rent misconceptions  of  mythology  may  be  brought  to  an  end. 
Thus,  within  recent  years,  the  science  of  Greek  mythology 
has  been  revolutionized  by  the  discovery  of  the  very  simple 
fact  that  Homer  is  not  its  ultimate  authority,  that,  indeed, 
he  represents  a  comparatively  late  stage  in  its  dcv^elopment; 


XIV 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


Ro  that  we  must  give  full  consideration  to  the  non-Homeric 
myths  and  sec  that  here,  tix),  there  is  the  same  underlying 
primitive  stratum  common  to  all  the  race  of  man.  This  mod- 
ern scientific  treatment  of  Classical  mythology  has  its  initial 
English  presentation  in  our  series.  Perhaps,  at  first  blush, 
we  shall  seem  to  lose  much  both  here  and  elsewhere;  we  may, 
perchance,  be  disappf)inted  when  we  find  that  the  vaunted 
wisdom  of  Egyptians  and  of  Druids  was  not  so  very  profound; 
but  if  we  must  part  with  some  false,  though  pretty,  ideas, 
we  shall  find  ample  compensation  in  knowing  Egyptians  and 
Druids  as  they  were.  After  all,  which  do  we  prefer  —  a  fanciful 
picture  of  our  friend,  or  his  actual  portrait.' 

Mythology  may  be  written  in  either  of  two  ways  —  pres- 
entational or  comparative.  In  the  former  the  myths  of  each 
people  are  presented  separately;  in  the  latter  some  special 
theme  —  the  deluge-legend,  the  afterworld,  or  the  like  — 
is  considered  as  it  appears  in  myth  throughout  the  world. 

The  utmost  care  has  been  taken  in  the  choice  of  collabora- 
tors, and  it  is  believed  that  to  scholars  their  names  will  be  in 
themselves  sufficient  warrant  that  the  volumes  will  possess 
distinct  scientific  value.  The  ample  bibliographies  and  ref- 
erences appended  to  the  pertinent  sections  will  enhance  the 
technical  worth  of  our  series.  In  addition,  we  propose  to  give 
in  our  index  volume  not  merely  the  names  and  subjects  dis- 
cussed in  the  various  volumes,  but  also  a  topical  arrangement 
by  which  the  ■.  ariant  myths  and  mythic  themes  of  the  differ- 
ent peoples  upon  ■  given  subject  may  be  found  readily  and 
accurately. 

The  selection  of  illustrations  will,  it  is  hoped,  meet  with 
general  favour.  It  would  have  been  a  very  easy  matter  to 
present  fancy  pictures  or  to  reproduce  paintings  of  great 
modern  artists.  Instead  of  that,  we  have  deemed  it  more  in 
harmony  with  the  purpose  of  the  series  to  choose  for  each 
section  pictures  of  the  deities  or  of  mythic  incidents  as  delin- 
eated by  the  people  who  themselves  believed  in  those  deities 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE  xv 

or  incidents.  This  will  have  the  added  advantage  of  extending 
some  knowledge  of  the  art  of  early  times  and  the  more  prim- 
itive peoples,  as  well  as  of  such  highly  developed  arts  as  those 
of  the  Orient.  Here  the  material  necessarily  runs  unevenly. 
For  some  mythologies  —  as  Greek,  Indian,  and  American  — 
there  is  truly  an  emba-ras  de  richesses;  for  others  —  notably 
Celtic,  Slavic,  and  Armenian  — where  the  mythic  systems 
have  vanished  leaving  scarcely  a  trace  of  artistry  —  whether 
because  they  never  developed  it  in  high  measure,  or  because 
their  pagan  art  was  later  destroyed  —  the  artistic  remains  are 
lamentably  meagre. 

In  the  plan  and  arrangement  of  each  volume  and  section 
full  latitude  has  been  given  to  its  author.  It  is  obviously  im- 
possible to  build  a  single  Procrustean  bed  into  which  any  and 
every  mythology  must  be  forced  to  fit;  such  "consistency" 
would  be  mere  pedantry,  and,  by  its  false  implications,  would 
defeat  its  own  ends. 

It  will  perhaps  be  well  to  stress  the  fact  that  there  will  be 
nothing  in  our  series  that  can  be,  in  Roman  Catholic  phrase, 
"offensive  to  pious  ears."  In  this  respect,  the  editor  is  happy 
to  say,  his  duties  of  censor  have  been  practically  a  sinecure. 

In  conclusion,  a  brief  outline  of  our  series  may  appropriately 
be  given. 

The  first  volume  is  on  Greek  and  Roman  Mythology,  by  Pro- 
fessor VV.  Sherwood  Fox,  of  Princeton  University,  and  is  written 
from  the  point  of  view  to  which  we  have  already  referred. 

The  second  volume,  devoted  to  Teutonic  Mythology,  is  by 
Dr.  Axel  Olrik,  of  the  University  of  Copenhagen,  and  author  of 
Danmarks  heltedigtning  ("The  Epic  Poetry  of  Denmark"), 
Kilderne  til  Sakses  oldhistorie  ("Sources  for  Ancient  Saxon 
History"),  and  Nordisk  aansdliv  i  vikingetid  og  tidlig  mid- 
delalder  ("Norse  Intellectual  Life  in  the  Viking  Period  and 
the  Eariy  Middle  Ages").  Teutonic  Mythology  is  almost 
wholly  that  of  the  Old  Icelandic  Sagas,  and  without  a  knowl- 
edge of  it  Wagner's  N ibelungenring,  for  examole,  is  quite  unin- 


xvi 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


uH.K.bIc.  Curiously  vnaugh,  there  is  little  Teutonic  mythology 
except  for  survivals  in  popular  custom,  and  beliefs)  outside  of 
Iceland;  but  in  that  island  a  rich  literature  was  composed,  and 
the  mythology  of  the  ancient  Teutons  is  one  of  the  most  fasci- 
natmjr  that  has  ever  been  evolved. 

The  third   volume  is  divided  between  Celtic  and  Slavic. 
The  first  part  ,s  from  the  pen  of  Canon  John  A.  MacCuIUh. 

7hr  ChddhooJ  of  f  uLon,  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Celts,  and  other 
standard  works     The  vivid  imagination  and  warm-heartedness 
of  the  modern  Irish,  the  quid;  impetuosity  of  the  Welsh,  the 
dour     fatahsm  of  the  Scotsman,  all  find  expression  in  their 
anaent  mythology.    We  think  at  once  of  King  Arthur  and  the 
Kn.ghts  of  the  Round  Table  when  we  speak  of  Celtic  mythol- 
ogy,  but  we  are  only  too  dimly  aware  of  the  dire  struggles  be- 
tween  the  Fomorians  and  the  Tuatha  de  Danann,  and  .ve  are 
ail  too  prone  to  forget  the  vast  mythology  of  the  peoples  who 
occupied  Gaul  when  Caesar  conquered  it,  and  who  still  dwell 
.n  Ireland,  Wales,  Brittany,  and  much  of  Scotland 

The  Slavic  section  is  written  by  Professor  Jan  Machal.  of 
the  Bohemian  University  of  Prague,  and  author  of  Bohatyrsky 
epos  slovansky  ("  Heroic  Epic  of  the  Slavs  ").  Bdjeslovi  slovanske 
(    Slavic  Mythology"),  etc.     No  work  in  English  exists  on  the 
mytnology  of  the  Slavic  peoples;  yet  in  a  way  they  are  second 
only  to  the  Hindus  as  representing  the  oldest  mythological  con- 
cepts  of  our  own  Indo-European  race.     Slavic  mythology  also 
mcludes  the  concepts  of  the  Baltic  nations  -  the  Lithuanians 
and  ancient  Prussians  (who,  it  may  be  remarked,  were  Baltcv 
Slavs,  not  Germans).    Of  all  the  European  peoples,  the  Baltcv 
Slays  were  the  last  to  be  Christianized,  and  to  the  downfall  of 
their  paganism  it  retained  a  remarkably  primitive  form,  beside 

modern       ^'''''  "'"  '^^  '^'"'°"''  '""'"'  ""'"'"'^^  distinctly 

The  fourth  volume  is  devoted  to  the  FinncvUgric  and  Sibe- 

nan  peoples,  and   its  author  is  Dr.  Uno  Holmberg,  of  the 


I— I 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


XVII 


I'nii'crsity  of  Finland,  Hclsinpfors,  who  has  already  \/nttpn 
Permalaisten  uikonlo  ("Religion  of  the  Permians"),  Tshirrmis- 
sirn  uskontn  ("Religion  of  the  Chercmiss"),  and  Lappah^sUn 
uskonto  ("  Religion  of  the  Lapps").  The  mention  of  the  Y  inns 
at  once  brings  to  mind  the  great  world-epic  of  the  KaUvala, 
but  the  Finns  are  also  distantly  related  to  the  Hungarians  and 
tlic  early  Turks.  Muc'i  has  been  written  on  the  Kalfvala,  but 
little  on  any  other  portions  of  Finnish  mythology.  The  Sibe- 
rian portion  of  the  volume,  dealing  with  the  very  interesting 
and  primitive  theme  of  "shamanism,"  will  be  the  first  scholarly 
presentation  of  the  subject  in  English. 

In  the  fifth  volume  Captain  R.  Campbell  Thompson,  the 
author  of  The  Reports  of  the  Magicians  and  Astrologers  of 
Aiiifveh  and  Babylon,  The  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits  of  Babylonia, 
Babylonian  Letters,  Semitic  Magic,  and  other  works  of  high  rank, 
discusses  Semitic  Mythology.  By  this  we  shall  understand 
the  mythology  of  the  ancient  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  and 
the  scanty  traces  of  primitive  Ara' •  «  cligion  before  the  com- 
ing of  Muhammad.  While  many  exec  :nt  treatises  on  this  sub- 
ject e.xist,  we  may  point  out  a  new  feature  —  th*;  rendering,  for 
the  first  time,  of  practically  all  the  Assyro-Babylonian  myths 
into  English  verse.  Moreover,  by  his  repeated  visits  to  the 
East,  Captain  Campbell  Thompson  has  succeeded  in  inter- 
preting a  number  of  mythological  ideas  by  modern  beliefs  and 
phenomena.  We  have,  after  due  consideration,  decided  to  omit 
an  account  of  Muhammadanism,  since  it  has  no  mythology  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  term. 

The  sixth  volume  is  composite,  dealing  with  the  closely 
kindred  races  of  India  and  Persia.  The  Indian  Mythology  is 
written  by  Professor  A.  Berriedale  Keith,  of  Edinburgh  Uni- 
versity, the  author  of  the  standard  Ftdic  Index  of  Names  and 
Subjects  and  editor  and  translator  of  the  §ankhdyana  and  Ai- 
tareya  Aranyakas  and  of  the  Taittiriya  Samhitd.  Here  we  have 
the  earliest  religious  records  of  the  Indo-European  race.  Pro- 
fessor Keith  traces  the  development  of  the  Indian  mythology 


I  — » 


XVUl 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


from  the  Rigvcda  (about  1500  n.c.)  to  tlic  present  day.  If  in 
the  Rigvcda  itself  we  find  few  nuths,  they  appear  in  rich 
abundance  in  the  later  periods,  and  they  possess  a  luxuriance 
of  fancy  that  is  peculiarly  Oriental.  The  second  portion  of 
this  volume,  by  Professor  A.  J.  Carnoy,  of  the  University  of 
Louvain,  and  author  of  Le  Latin  d''Espap,ne  <rapr?s  Ics  inscrip- 
tions. La  Stylistique  grccqjic,  and  The  Religion  of  the  Avesta, 
deals  with  the  mythology  of  the  so-called  "fire-worshippers," 
tlie  followers  of  Zoroaster.  Xo  treatise  at  once  scholarly  and 
popular  has  yet  appeared  in  English  on  this  theme,  which 
draws  its  sources  not  only  from  the  ancient  Avesta,  but  also 
from  one  o.  the  great  epics  of  the  world,  the  Book  of  Kings  of 
the  Persian  poet,  Firdausi. 

The  first  third  of  the  seventh  volume,  by  Professor  Mardiros 
Ananikian,  of  the  Kennedy  School  of  Missions,  Hartford, 
treats  of  Armenian  mythology,  of  which  practically  nothing  is 
known,  except  for  a  few  works  in  the  .vrmenian  language,  and 
a  couple  of  short  special  monographs  in  French  and  German, 
although  its  myths  arc  of  peculiar  interest,  especially  in  rela- 
tion to  Iranian  mythology. 

The  remainder  of  the  volume  is  from  the  pen  of  Professor 
George  Foucart,  head  of  the  French  Institute  of  Oriental 
Archaeology  at  Cairo,  and  author  of  La  Methode  comparative 
dans  rhistoire  des  religions,  who  will  discuss  the  extremely 
primitive  mythology  of  the  pagan  Africans.  Here,  again,  no 
English  work  exists  which  considers  this  subject  as  a  whole. 

The  eighth  volume  is  divided  equally  between  Chinese  and 
Japanese  mythology.  The  first  part,  written  by  Professor  U. 
Hattori,  of  the  Imperial  University  of  Tokyo,  considers  es- 
pecially the  mythology  of  Taoism,  for  the  Buddhism  of  China 
is  really  Indian,  while  Confucianism  is  a  system  of  ethics  and 
has  no  mythology.  The  second  portion,  from,  the  pen  of  Pro- 
fessor Masaharu  Anesaki,  of  the  same  university,  and  author 
of  Buddhist  Art  in  its  Relation  to  Buddhist  Ideals,  treats  partic- 
ularly of  the  curiously  primitive  mythology  of  Shintoism. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


XIX 


In  the  ninth  volume  Professor  Roland  Burrage  Dixon,  of 
Harvard  University,  and  author  of  Maidu  Texts,  discusses, 
for  the  first  time  in  connected  form  in  English,  the  mythology 
of  the  Malayo-Polynesian  and  Australian  peoples.  The  Aus- 
tralians are  of  particular  interest  as  being  among  the  most 
primitive  of  all  living  races,  and  their  myths  are  equally  ele- 
mentary. On  the  other  hand,  Polynesian  mythology  competes 
in  richness  and  poetic  charm  with  the  mythology  of  ancient 
Greece  itself,  as  in  the  legend  of  Tangaloa,  one  of  the  great 
cosmic  gods,  or  of  Pele,  the  dread  divinity  of  the  Hawaiian 
volcanoes;  while  among  the  Malays  we  find  a  curious  blending 
of  aboriginal  beliefs  nnd  of  Hindu  and  Muhammadan  influences 
and  elements. 

Two  volumes,  tiic  tenth  and  eleventh,  are  devoted  by  Pro- 
fessor Hartley  B.  Alexander,  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  and 
author  of  Poetry  and  the  Individual  and  of  numerous  articles  on 
tlie  American  Indians  in  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Religion  and 
Ethics,  to  the  mythology  of  the  American  Indians.  The  first 
volume  treats  of  the  Indians  north  of  Mexico,  and  deals  with 
the  very  varied  mythological  systems  of  the  Eskimo,  the  Algon- 
quians,  tiic  Plains  Indians,  the  Pacific  Coast  tribes,  and  the  In- 
dians of  the  Southern  States,  the  Puebloans,  etc.  In  the  second 
portion  —  on  Latin  America  —  the  highly  developed  religions 
of  the  ancient  Aztecs,  Central  Americans,  and  Peruvians  will 
be  found  to  stand  in  striking  contrast  to  the  extremely  prim- 
itive myths  of  the  South  American  Indians  generally.  The 
collection  of  the  South  American  mythologies  will  be,  we  should 
note,  the  first  that  has  yet  been  written  with  any  approach  to 
completeness. 

The  twelfth  volume  again  is  divided  into  two  parts.  The 
first  of  these  deals  with  the  mythology  of  ancient  Egypt,  and 
has  been  written  by  Professor  W.  Max  Miiller,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  and  author  of  Asien  und  Europa  and 
Egyptological  Researches.  This  will  present  the  faith  of  the 
Nile-Land  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  most  modern  scholar- 


XX 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


ship,  and  will  go  far  toward  dissipating  some  very  common 

errors  regarding  that  system.    The  remainder  of  the  volume, 

written  by  Sir  George  Scott,  formerly  of  the  British  Burmese 

Service,  and  editor  of   The  Upper  Burma  Gazetteer,  discusses 

the  mythology  of  Burma,  Siam,  and  Annam  with  the  same  vivid 

charm  that  characterizes  his  volume  on  The  Burman,  his  Life 

and  Notions. 

LOUIS  H.  GRAY. 

April  10,  1916. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

THE  purpose  which  has  guided  me  throughout  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  book  has  been  to  present  and  interpret  a  num- 
ber of  the  typical  myths  of  Greece  and  Rome  as  vehicles  of 
religious  thought;  that  is  to  say,  in  the  discharge  of  their  orig- 
inal function.  It  is  to  be  assumed,  of  course,  that  the  standard 
controlling  both  the  choice  of  the  legends  and  their  interpre- 
tation is  religion  in  its  most  comprehensive  aspect,  an  aspect 
that  is  most  sa'isfactorily  defined  by  Professor  Irving  King 
{The  Developt:  nt  of  Relii^ion,  p.  7):  "The  religious  attitude 
may  be  said  to  be  a  peculiar  organization  of  mental  processes 
about  the  final  meanings  of  life  as  they  are  conceived  by  the 
individual  or  the  social  group."  By  accepting  this  definition 
one  puts  himself  under  bond,  in  spite  of  certain  ethical  and 
philosophical  misgivings,  to  include  with  religion  the  beliefs 
and  practices  of  magic,  the  Cain  of  the  family  of  spiritual  ac- 
tivities. This  extension  of  the  field  of  observation,  added  t3 
the  present  writer's  shortcomings  and  the  natural  restrictions 
of  book-making,  has  perforce  limited  the  choice  of  myths  to 
a  comparatively  small  fraction  of  those  which  are  logically 
available.  For  the  same  reasons,  as  well  as  for  several  others 
equally  obvious,  the  interpretations  which  I  have  offered  are 
of  necessity  far  from  being  exhaustive.  If  it  is  true,  and  I 
believe  that  it  is,  that  most  of  the  legends  recorded  on  these 
pages  have  already  secured  a  permanent  place  in  literature, 
then  so  much  is  clear  gain;  but  so  far  as  the  purpose  of  this 
volume  is  concerned  their  inclusion  as  pure  literature  is 
accidental. 

Contrary  to  the  usual  practice  of  mythologists,  I  have  nar- 
rated the  stories  of  the  local  heroes  before  proceeding  to  the 


xxli  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

delineation  of  the  divinities,  an  order  which  appealed  to  me 
as  the  logical  one  even  before  I  learned  that  it  was  advocated 
by  Gruppe.  Doubtless  the  reader,  too,  will  share  this  view 
when  he  realizes  that  the  descriptions  of  tlie  gods  contained 
in  the  second  part  of  the  book  are  in  reality  composite  por- 
traits largely  made  up  of  individual  characteristics  casually- 
revealed  by  the  gods  themselves  as  they  play  their  parts  on 
the  stage  of  the  local  myths. 

Although  frankly  recognizing  the  impossibility  of  being  per- 
fectly consistent  in  the  matter  of  spelling  Greek  proper  names 
in  Englisli,  I  have  not  utterly  despaired  of  attaining  a  certain 
measure  of  uniformity.  The  Attic  orthography  of  "he  great 
dramatists  has  been  adopted  as  the  standard,  and  names  have 
been  transliterated  into  English  according  to  the  mechanical 
method  usually  followed,  the  one  exception  being  that  ch  and 
not  kh  is  used  as  the  equivalent  of  x-  The  established  Eng- 
lish spelling,  however,  has  been  retained  in  personal  names 
which  in  the  course  of  centuries  have  bc-ome  so  much  a  part 
of  the  English  language  that  alteration  of  their  form  would 
seem  at  the  same  time  to  disguise  the  personalities  for  which 
they  stand  (c.  g.  Achilles,  Apollo,  and  not  Achilleus,  Apollon); 
and  likewise  in  names  of  districts,  cities,  islands,  and  bodies 
of  water  to  which  frequent  allusion  is  still  made  in  English 
journalism  and  literature  (e.  g.  Thrace,  Athens,  Cyprus,  and 
Aegean,  and  not  Thrake,  Athcnai,  Kypros,  and  Aigaian). 

Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  remains  of  Greek  and 
Roman  art  will  recognize  man}-  familiar  subjects  among  the 
illustrations,  but  at  the  same  time  they  will  find  a  number 
which  have  seldom,  if  ever  before,  been  employed  in  a  treatise 
on  mythology.  Of  this  latter  class  may  be  mentioned  in 
particular  the  reproductions  of  the  vase-paintings  found  within 
recent  years  at  Gela,  and  of  the  bronzes  and  other  objects  in 
Boston  and  New  York,  and  also  the  photogravure  of  the 
Aphrodite  in  Toronto.  Sufficient  new  material  of  a  high  order 
is  not  yet  at  hand  to  permit  one  .-ntirely  to  dispense  with  the 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 


xxm 


older  works  of  art  which  have  served  to  illumine  the  writings 
of  three  generations  of  mythologists. 

It  would  be  ungracious  of  me  to  let  pass  this  opportunity 
of  publicly  acknowledging  my  indebtedness,  too  great  to  com- 
pute, to  a  large  number  of  scholars  whose  writings  I  have 
freely  consulted  and  drawn  upon  as  occasion  required.  To 
those  who  know  the  real  worth  of  L.  R.  Farnell's  Cults  of  the 
Greek  States  and  Otto  Gruppc's  Griechische  Mythologie  und 
Religionsgeschichte  a  special  mention  of  these  works  as  having 
been  of  incalculable  help  to  me  will  ot  seem  invidious.  I 
regret  to  say  that,  owing  to  the  baffling  delays  of  war-time,  the 
first  volume  of  A.  B.  Cook's  Zeus  did  not  come  into  my  hands 
sufficiently  early  for  me  to  profit  by  it  to  an  extent  of  which 
it  is  truly  worthy. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  record  my  deep  sense  of  gratitude 
to  all  those  with  whom  I  have  been  associated  in  this  under- 
aking;  to  my  colleagues  Professors  Edward  Capps  and  A.  C. 
Johnson  for  timely  suggestions  regarding  the  problems  of  or- 
ganization; to  another  colleague,  Professor  G.  W.  Elderkin, 
for  his  expert  advice  relative  to  the  vase-paintings;  to  the  pub- 
lishers for  their  quick  sympathy  with  my  aims,  and  their 
generosity  in  making  it  possible  to  provide  the  myths  with 
adequate  and  artistic  illustrations;  and,  principally,  to  the 
editor-in-chief  of  this  series  of  volumes.  Dr.  Louis  H.  Gray, 
whose  wide  learning,  clear  judgement,  and  candid  criticism 
have  enriched  this  book,  and  whose  unfailing  courtesy  has 
graced  our  mutual  relations  with  a  happy  and  inspiring   in- 

formalitv. 

W.  SHERWOOD  FOX. 

Princeton  University, 
April  21,  1916. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Consulting  Editor's  Preface vii 

Editor's  Preface ix 

Author's  Preface xxi 

Introduction  to  the  Greek  Myths xli 

Sources  for  the  Greek  Myths Ix 

Sources  for  the  Roman  Myths Ixi 

Part  I.   Myths  of  .he  Beginning,  the  Heroes,  and  the 

Afterworld 1 

Chapter  I.   Myths  of  the  Beginning 3 

The  Creation  of  the  World 4 

The  Regime  of  Ouranos 6 

The  Regime  of  Kronos 7 

Establishment  of  the  Regime  of  Zeus;  the  Titans    ...  8 

Typhon  (or  Typhoeus);  the  Giants 8 

The  Creation  of  Man lo 

Prometheus I2 

Pandora 14 

Origins  of  Certain  Animals  and  Plants 15 

Beginnings  of  Civilization 16 

The  Ages  of  the  World 17 

The  Great  Flood 18 

Chapter  II.   Myths  of  the  Peloponnesos 20 

I    Arkadia: 

Pelasgos 20 

Lykaon 20 

Kallisto 21 

Arkas,  Aleos,  Auge 21 

The  Plague  at  Teuthis 22 


xxvi  CONTENTS 

II    Lakonia  and  Mcsscnc: 

Lelex  and  his  Descendants 'i 

Hyakintlios "^ 

The  Family  of  Periercs 24 

Tyndareos,  Helen,  Kastor  and  Polydeukcs  ....  24 

Idas  and  Marpessa *7 

III    At^os: 

28 
Inachos,  lo 

The  Families  of  Danaos  and  Aipyptos 3° 

Proitos  and  his  Daut^hters 3* 

Akrisios,  Danac,  and  Perseus 33 

IV    Corinth: 

The  Divine  Patrons  of  Corinth 3° 

Sisyphos ■'' 

Glaukos '' 

Bellerophon ^^ 

Chapter  III.   Myths  of  the  Northern  Mainland.  42 

I  Boiutia  and  Euboia: 

The  First  Inhabitants  of  Boiotia 4^ 

Amphion  and  Zcthos 43 

Kadmos "^ 

The  Daughters  of  K.admc3: 

Semele "*' 

Ino +'' 

Autonoc "^ 

Agave ■*■' 

The  Sorrows  of    he  House  of  Labdakos;  Oidipous   .  4'"' 

The  Sons  of  Oidipous,  and  the  Seven  against  Thebes  5 1 

The  Epi;-  noi      54 

Alkmaion ^"^ 

II  Aitolia: 

The  Founding  of  Aitolia 55 

Meleagros  and  Atalanic 5  ' 

Chapter  I\'.    Mvths  of  Crete  and  Attike ^>o 

I    Crete: 

Lurope 

Myths  of  Minos  and  his  Sens;  Minos 61 


CONTENTS  xxvii 

PACE 

Androgeos 62 

Glaukos 62 

Katrcus 63 

Dcukalion 63 

The  Character  and  Achievements  of  Minos     ...  63 

Daidalos      64 

II   Attike: 

Kekrops 66 

Erichthonios 67 

Boutes  and  Ercchtheus 67 

The  Sons  of  Pandion;  The  War  wiili  Minos    ...  63 

The  Daujrluers  of  Kekrops 69 

The  Dauj;hters  of  Pandion 70 

The  Daughters  of  Erechtheus: 

Kreousa 71 

Prokris 71 

Oreithjia 73 

Chapter  V.    Herakles 75 

The  Birth  of  Herakles 76 

Childhood  and  Youth  of  Herakles      79 

Early  Manhood  of  Herakles 79 

The  Madness  of  Herakles 80 

The  Twelve  Labours  of  Herakles: 

First  Labour 80 

Second  Labour  81 

Third  Labour 81 

Fourth  Labour 82 

Fifth  Labour 82 

Sixth  Labour 84 

Seventh  Labour 84 

Eighth  Labour 84 

Ninth  Labour 85 

Tenth  Labour 86 

Eleventh  Labour 87 

Twelfth  Labour 88 

The  Later  Adventures  of  Herakles: 

III  Euboia 89 


xxviii  CONTENTS 

InLydia     '^ 

At  Troy 9' 

In  the  Pcloponnesos      9« 

In  Aitolia  and  the  Mountains 93 

The  Descendants  of  Herakles      95 

Chapter  VI.   Thesei  s ^ 

Birth  and  Childhood 97 

The  Labours  of  Theseus: 

First  Labour 9 

Second  Labour   9 

Third  Labour 9 

Fourth  Labour ^ 

Fifth  Labour 99 

Sixth  Labour '^ 

Theseus  in  Athens 99 

lOO 

Theseus  in  Crete 

Theseus  and  the  Bull  of  Marathon ^°^ 

Theseus  as  Kini;  and  Statesman '°3 

The  Later  Adventures  of  Theseus: 

The  Amazons '°3 

Theseus  and  Hippolytos '°4 

Friendship  with  Peirithoos '°4 

Death  of  Theseus '°5 

Chapter  VIL    The  Voyage  of  the  Argo «o6 

The  Descendants  of  Aiolos: 

Salmoneus,  Pelias ''°^ 

Admetos  and  Alkestis '°7 

Athamas,  Phrixos,  and  Helle '07 

The  Return  of  lason '°^ 

The  \oyage  of  the  Argo '°9 

The  Death  of  Pelias      • "  + 

lason  and  Medeia  in  Corinth "5 

Medeia  in  Athens "^ 

Chapter  VIIL   The  Tale  of  Troy "7 

The  House  of  Dardanos ^'7 

The  House  of  Tantalos "9 


CONTENTS  XXIX 

PAGE 

The  House  of  Aiakos «il 

Diomedcs  and  Odysseus '23 

The  A.'>7>rj(i;  Traditional  Causes  of  the  War 124 

The  Iliad «2^' 

The //i7Aio;>ij,-  The  Death  of  Achilles ijo 

The  LitlU  Iliad  and  the  Ilioupfrsis;  The  Fall  of  Troy  i.?l 

The  A^oj/oi  ("Returns") «33 

Menelaos  and  Helen '33 

Agamemnon '34 

The  Other  Heroes  (except  Odysseus) 13; 

TheOdysuy '3^ 

The  TeUgonia '39 

Chapter  IX.   The  Afterworld '4' 

The  Greek  \icw  of  the  Soul  and  of  Death '4' 

Entrances  to,  and  Rivers  of,  the  Underworld 143 

The  Judges '43 

The  Punishments  of  Hades      '44 

Visits  of  the  Living  to  Hades '44 

Elysion,  The  Islands  of  the  Blest '47 

Part  II.   The  Greek  Gods '49 

Chapter  I.   The  Greater  Gods  — Zeus  and  Hera     .    .  151 
Zeus: 

The  Original  Significance  of  Zeus 152 

The  Zeus  of  Homer '53 

The  Birth  and  Death  of  Zeus 154 

The  Marriages  of  Zeus '5^ 

The  Offspring  of  Zeus '57 

The  Functions  of  Zeus;  As  Supreme  God 157 

Zeus  as  God  of  the  Heavens '59 

Zeus  as  God  of  Fertility '60 

Zeus  in  his  Political  and  Ethical  Aspects 160 

Zeus  as  Prophet,  Fate,  Healer,  and  Helper 162 

Zeus  as  a  Chthonic  Divinity 163 

Zeus  in  Art '63 

Hera: 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Hera 163 

Hera  in  Homer '64 


XXX  CONTENTS 

llcra  a»  the  Wife  ci(  Zeus ''^'S 

The  Fur.ctions  of  Hera l^"^' 

llcra  in  Art «^** 

CllAPTKR    II.     Tin:    ("iRKATER   GoDS  —  AtHF.NF. I69 

The  Oriv'iii  and  the  Name  of  Athene 169 

Athene  in  lluiner '"9 

The  Birth  of  Athene 17° 

Tlic  Functions  of  Athene 17' 

Athene  in  Art '73 

Chapter  III.   The  CiRF.ATtR  Cous  —  Llto,  Apoi.i.o,  Ar- 

TtMis,  Hekate '74 

Leto: 

The  Birth  of  Apollo  and  Artemis 174 

Leto  and  Tityos;  Leto  and  Niobc      I7S 

Apollo: 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Apollo 175 

Apollo  in  Homer '7" 

Apollo  in  Dclphoi '77 

The  Functions  of  Apollo >78 

Apollo  in  Art      '82 

Artemis: 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Artemis 1 82 

Artemis  in  Homer 1^3 

The  Functions  of  Artemis 183 

Artemis  in  Art -^^ 

Hekate '86 

Chapter  IV.   The  Greater  Gods  — Ares 189 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Ares      189 

Ares  in  Homer 189 

Ares  outside  of  Homer 19° 

Ares  in  Art '9© 

Chapter  V.   The  Greater  Gods -- Hermes 19* 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Hermes 191 

Hermes  in  Homer      '91 

Myths  of  the  Birth  and  Boyhood  of  Hermes 192 

Hermes  Argeiphontes '93 


CONTENTS  XXXI 

The  Fuiictioni  of  Hcrmc* 194 

Ilcrmcs  in  Art '95 

Chapter    M.    The    Greater    Gods  —  Aphrodite    and 

Eros ^^ 

Aphrodite: 

The  Oripin  and  the  Name  of  Aphrodite l</> 

Apliroditc  in  Homer     197 

Birth  and  Family  Relationship 197 

Aphrodite  as  the  Goddess  of  Love 19** 

In  the  Plant  World 198 

\mc)np  Men '99 

Aphrodite  in  Art 202 

Eros 203 

Chapter    VII.   The    Greater    Gods  —  Hephaistos    and 

HtSTIA 20s 

Hephaistos: 

The  Orijiin  and  the  Name  of  Hephaistos 205 

Hephaistos  in  Homer 205 

The  Character  and  Functions  of  Hephaistos    .    .  206 

Hephaistos  in  Art 208 

Hestia: 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Hestia 208 

The  Genealogy  and  F"unctions  of  Hestia 208 

Chapter    VIII.   The    Greater    Gods  —  Poseidon    and 

Ampiiitrite 210 

Poseidon : 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Poseidon 210 

Poseidon  in  Homer 2J0 

The  Family  Relationships  of  Poseidon      211 

The  Functions  of  Poseidon 211 

Poseidon  in  Art 213 

Amphitrite 214 

Chapter  IX.   The  Greater  Gods  —  Dionysos 215 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Dionysos 215 

Dionysos  in  Homer 217 

The  Birth  of  Dionysos 2»7 


XXXll 


CONTENTS 


The  Func^ons  and  the  Cult  of  Dionysos      

Dionysos  in  Art. 

Myths  of  Alexantlf  >■  the  Great 

Chapter    X.    The    Greater    Gods  —  Demeter,     Kore, 

Hades 

Dcmetcr  and  Kore  (Persephone): 

The  Oriirin  and  the  Name  of  Demeter 

Demeter  in  Homer 

Demeter  as  the  Goddess  of  the  Soil 

Demeter  and  Kore  ;  Persephone) 

Demeter  and  Triptolemos 

The  Nature  of  Persephone 

The  M\steries  of  Eieusis 

Demeter  and  Kore  in  Art 

Hades: 

Hades  in  Art 

Chapte      XI.    The    Lesser   Gods  —  Of   the    Circle    of 

Zeis,  of  Light,  .\nd  of  Heat 

Of  the  Circle  of  Zeus: 

Eurynome 

Charites  ("Graces") 

Themis 

Horai  ("Hours") 

Mncmo.^yne;  The  Muses 

Ganyinedes 

Hebe 

Of  the  Greater  Luminaries: 

Helios  ("Sun")      

Phaethon     

Selene 

Of  Phases  of  Light: 

Eos 

ffelen  and  the  Dio.skouroi 

Of  Single  Stars  and  Constellations: 

Astraios,  Phosphoros,  Eosphon^ 

Hesperos 

Pleiades  and  Hvades 


PACE 

218 

->  -1  •» 


225 
226 
226 
227 
230 
230 
231 


234 

23C' 

236 
236 
237 
237 
238 
240 
240 

241 

245 
244 

245 
246 

247 
247 

248 


CONTENTS  xxxm 

I'ACE 

Orion 24(> 

I'rsa  Major,  ur  Gaul  Dear;  BoGtcs -5' 

Of  Midsummer  Heat: 

Ari^iaios,  Siriiis,  Aktaion -j^ 

l.lIlnS "3- 

Litycrscs -53 

C'liAPTrR    XII.   The    Licsser   Ckn.r  -    Ui    W'atir,    Wind, 

AM)  Wll.D -55 

Of  the  WalL-r: 

Okcanos  and  tlie  OkcaniJc -55 

Rivers      256 

Sprintrs  (.Nymphs) -57 

The  Sea 259 

Triton      -59 

Nereus '^'° 

Proteus -''■ 

Claukos -<■>• 

Ino  (Lcukothea) -^' 

Seirenes  (Sirens) -^'- 

Skylla  and  Charybdis ^(>i 

Of  Winds  and  Storms: 

Boreas,  Euros,  Noios,  and  Zephyros 265 

Aiolos 266 

Harpies 2r)6 

Typhon  and  the  kyklopes 267 

Of  the  Wild: 

Pan,  Siienoi,  and  Satyroi  (Satyrs)      267 

Maenads  and  Bacchantes 269 

Dryads  and  Hamadryads 270 

Kcntauroi  (Centaurs) 270 

Chapter  XIII.   The  Lesser  Gods  — Of  the  Earth    .    .  272 

I    Gaia  (Ge) 272 

II    Rhea-Kybcle  (Great  Mother)      273 

III    Lesser  Divinities  of  the  Underworld: 

Erinyes 270 

Eumenides,  Semnai  Theai,  Maniai 277 

Miscellaneous 278 

«  — 3 


w 


ffh 


xxxiv  CONTEXTS 

'^-^•^'^  PAGE 

Chapter     XIV.   The     Lessi.r     Gods  —  .^^klepios,     Ab- 
stract Divinities '79 

I    Askli'pios: 

The  Oiiein  and  the  Name  of  Asklcpi<is 279 

Myths  oi  Asklepios 279 

Asklepios  in  Art 2Sl 

II    Abstract  Divinities ^82 

III    The  Element  of  Chance: 

Tyche 2^3 

Moira,  Mi)irai,  Ananke,  Adrasteia 283 

Nemesis 28+ 

Part  III.    The  Mytiiolocy  ok  Ancient  Italy 285 

Introduction • ^87 

I    F.tniscan  Mythclopy 289 

II    Native  Italic  Gods: 

{a)  Nature-Gods:   Of    the    Sky,    Atmosphere,    and 
Time: 

luppitcr 289 

Mater  Matuta 290 

(i)  Nature-Gods:    Of    Human    Life,    Earth,   Agri- 
culture, and  Herding: 

Genius;  luno 291 

Ceres 29I 

Tellus  Mater 291 

Liber 292 

Saturnus 292 

Census  and  Ops 292 

Mars 293 

Faunus          293 

Silvanus 293 

Diana 294 

Venus 294 

Flora 204 

Fortuna 295 

(c)  Nature  Gods:  Of  the  Water: 

Neptunus 295 


CONTENTS  XXXV 

PAGE 

(d)  Nature-Gods:  Of  Fire,  of  the  Underivorld,  and 

of  Disease: 

\  ulcanus 296 

\'ediovis 296 

Febris 296 

(e)  Gods  of  I-fuman  Society: 

lanus 297 

\'esta 298 

Di  Penates;  Lares 29S 

Minerva 299 

(/)   Abstract  Gods 299 

(g)  Momentary  and  Departmental  Gods      ....  300 

III  Gods  of  Foreign  Origin: 

Apollo      300 

Aesculapius 301 

Mercurius 301 

Castor  and  Pollux 301 

Hercules 302 

Dis  Pater 303 

Magna  Mater 303 

IV  Myths  of  the  Early  Days  of  Rome: 

The  Aeneid  of  X'ergil 304 

Events  subsequent  to  those  of  the  Aeneid    ....  306 

Appendix ,11 

Notes ^23 

BlBLIOGR.\PHY -^- 


w 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FULL   PAGE   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATE                                                                                                                                                     FACING  PAGE 

I    Aphrodite  the  Mother — Photogravure    .    .Frontispiece 

II    r.  Zeus  and  IVphoii xlii 

z.  Mcdousa  Beheaded 

III    Dionysos  and  a  Maenad xlvi 

IV'    I.  Plouion I 

2.  Apollo  and  Marsyas 

3.  Head  of  Alexander 

4.  Persephone 

5.  Zeus  and  Dione 

6.  Pan 

V   Zephyros liv 

\\    Silenoi  and  Maenads Ix 

VII    Hera 2 

VIII   Gods  and  Giants  —  Coloured      8 

IX  Athene  Parthenos      14 

X    I.  Helen  and  Paris 20 

2.  Asklepios 

XI   The  Contest  for  Marpessa  —  Coloured 24 

XII    lo  and  Argos 28 

XIII  Perseus— Coloured 32 

XIV  I.  Endymion      36 

2.  Perseus  and  Andromeda 

XV   Dirke  Bound  to  the  Bull      42 

X\I   The  Death  of  Pentheus 48 

XVII   The  Departure  of  Amphiaraos 54 

X\'III    Europe  and  the  Bull 60 

XIX  The  Birth  of  Erichthonios  —  Coloured 66 

XX   Eos  and  Kephalos  —  Coloured 72 

XXI   Herakles  and  the  Lion  of  Xemea 76 


% 


XXXVIU 

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XXII 
XXI II 


XXIV 

xx\ 

XX\I 

XX\II 

XXMII 

XXIX 

XXX 

XXXI 

XXXII 

XXXIII 

XXXI\ 

xxxv 

XXX\I 

XXWII 

XXXVI 1 1 

XXXIX 

XL 

XLI 

XLII 

XLI  1 1 

XLIV 

XL\' 

XL\"I 

XLVII 

XLMII 

XLIX 


L 
LI 

LIT 


ILLLSTR.\TIONS 

FACING  r.\(;E 

Ilcraklcs  ami  the  Hydra 82 

1.  Ilcraklcs  and  Xcrciis 88 

2.  Herakics  and  the  Cretan  Bull 

3.  Herakics  and  Apollo 

Amazons  in  Baltic 92 

Theseus  and  Amphitrite  —  Coloured 96 

^ajnihs  and  Centaurs  —  Coloured 100 

The  Argonauts  —  Coloured 106 

Medeia  at  C(jrinth 1 10 

1.  Priam  before  Achilles       I16 

2.  Pcleus  and  Thetis 

The  Sacrihce  of  Iphigencia 120 

Hektor  Taking  Leave  of  Andromache 124 

Achilles  and  Thersites 128 

The  Death  of  Aigis'hos  —  Coloured 132 

Odysseus  Slaying  the  Suitors  —  Coloured     ....  136 

Charon 142 

Ixion  on  the  Wheel I46 

Zeus 152 

Zeus  and  the  Kouretes 158 

Hera 164 

Athene 170 

The  Apollo  Belvedere 176 

Artemis 182 

An  Attic  Hckataion 1S8 

Hermes  and  the  Infant  Dionysos 194 

liros 200 

The  Return  of  Hephaistos  to  Olympos  —  Coloured  206 

Poseidon      212 

The  l-",nthroncd  Dion>'SDS 218 

1.  Dionysos  in  the  Ship 224 

2.  Kastor  and  Polydeukes  at  Home 

3.  Mystic  Rite  at  Eleusis 

Mystic  Rite  at  Eleusis     230 

1.  Helios 236 

2.  The  Horai 

Ganymedes  and  the  Eagle 242 


ILLUSTR.\TIONS  xxxix 

PLATE  FACING  PACE 

LI  1 1  The  Death  of  Aktaion  —  Coloured 248 

LIV   Linos  Slain  by  Hcrakles  —  Coloured 254 

LV   Odysseus  and  the  Sirens 260 

LVI   Oreilhyia  and  Boreas  —  Coloured      266 

LVII   A  Maenad  — Coloured 272 

LVIII   Hypnos 278 

LLX  Nike  —  Coloured 2S4 

LX  Genius  and  Lares 290 

LXI    I.  Arethousa 294 

2.  lanus  Bifrons 

LXII    Magna  Mater         300 

LXIII   Romulus  and  Remus 306 

ILLUSTR.\TIOXS  IN  THE  TEXT 

FIGL'RE  PAGE 

1  Poseidon ^ 

2  Creation  of  Pandora 14 

3A  The  Erymanthian  Boar  at  Mykenai 83 

3B  The  Flight  of  Eurystheus 83 

4  Theseus  and  the  Minotaur      102 

5  The  Death  of  Penthesilea 131 

6  The  Death  of  Aias  (Ajax) 146 

7  Apollo  and  Tityos 176 

8  Triptolemos 229 

9  Mnemosyne  and  Kalliope 239 

10  Satyrs  at  Play 269 

11  Marriage  of  luno  and  Hercules 302 


I 


Jl 


INTRODUCTION    TO   THE   GREEK    MYTHS 


'I'^O  proceed  immediately  to  the  narration  and  discussion  of 
M.  tiio  myths  of  Greece  would  be  much  lil<e  an  attempt  to 
construct  a  high  road  without  a  survey.  We  must  first  of  all 
make  certain  that  we  know  what  a  myth  is,  and  such  an  en- 
deavour to  give  sharp  definition  to  our  theme  will  naturally 
lead  to  an  investigatiun  of  the  special  conditions  which,  like 
soil  and  weather  to  a  plant,  favour  the  germination  and  growth 
of  myth.  Then,  granting  that  myth  has  some  connexion  with 
religion,  we  must  inform  ourselves  as  to  the  peculiar  nature  of 
the  religion  and  the  gods  of  Cireecc.  By  such  a  course  we  may 
perhaps  be  so  fortunate  as  to  reach  a  point  of  vantage  from 
wliich  we  can  gain  a  clear  and  comprehensive  view  of  the 
unique  character  of  the  (ireek  myths.  Once  this  has  been 
gained,  a  series  of  pertinent  questions  will  present  themselves, 
and  these  we  shall  enumerate  and  discuss  in  their  proper  place 
and  order. 

/.  What  is  Myth? — We  wish  it  were  possible  to  define  myth 
satisfactorily  by  an  epigram;  to  say  with  Marett,  for  instance, 
that  it  is  "Animatism  grown  picturesque."  But,  unhappily, 
epigram  is  a  definition  only  for  those  who  know,  and  this 
circumstance  limits  us  to  the  u-'   of  cold  analysis. 

For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  elements  of  myth  let  us 
regard  it  from  the  points  of  view  of  (a)  form,  (b)  time,  (c) 
subject-matter,  and  (d)  relation  to  fact. 

(a)  It  is  commonly  stated  that  a  myth,  in  order  to  be  a 
myth,  must  be  cast  in  narrative  form.  A  little  reflection,  how- 
ever, will  show  that  to  make  this  a  hard  and  fast  rule  is  tanta- 
mount to  rejecting  not  only  the  epithets  applied  to  the  gods  by 
their  worshippers,  but  also  the  attributes  accorded  them  by 


xlii      INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  NHTHS 

poet,  priest,  and  artist.  Tliis  we  cannot  consistently  do  (and, 
moreover,  no  writer  on  mythology  ever  does  it,  in  spite  of  his 
insistence  on  literal  narrative  form);  fur  an  epithet,  as  a  state- 
ment compressed  into  one  word,  and  an  attribute,  as  a  syinU.l 
of  a  statement,  are,  after  all,  substantially  narrr.tives.  The 
dilTerence  under  debate  is  really  one  of  lentrth,  and  not  one  of 
essential  quality.  Where  can  we  draw  the  line.'  The  thunder- 
weapon  put  into  the  hands  of  Zeus  by  an  artist  is  in  kind,  then, 
as  much  a  myth  as  the  whole  elaborate  tale  of  Prome-heus. 

(b)  The  statements  of  m\-th  have  a  direct  reference  to  the 
past  or  to  the  universal  present;  only  so  far  as  the  universal 
present  implies  the  probable  continuity  of  a  condition  have 
they  anv  reference  to  the  future.  That  Hephaistos  limped  and 
that  Ht'rmes  flew  were,  to  the  Greek,  facts  true  for  all  time. 
Why  the  simple  present  was  excluded  from  the  temporal  refer- 
ence of  the  myths  will  be  clear  after  we  have  examined  the 
nature  of  their  subject-matter. 

(c)  No  reader  of  myth  can  have  failed  to  notice  that  its 
themes  are  invariably  drawn  from  the  realm  of  the  unverifiable, 
or  at  least  from  that  which  was  incapable  of  demonstration 
at  the  time  of  the  creation  of  the  myth.   The  war  of  Troy  was 
fought  at  so  remote  a  period  that  none  could  debate  or  deny 
the  allegations  of  myth  that  a  quarrel  over  a  woman  was  the 
cause  of  it;  and  the  impossibility  of  refutation  in  this  and  other 
like  i;:3tanccs  was  eagerly  accepted  as  a  proof  of  fact.    More- 
over, whv  spoil  a  good  story  by  being  too  inquisitive  and  by 
applying' to  it  the  tests  of  workaday  life?    Typhon  rebelled 
against  Zeus,  and  Zeus  punished  him  by  heaping  upon  him  the 
great  mass  of  Aetna.    Since  nobody  could  explain  the  origin  of 
the  volcano  from  the  known  experience  of  mankind,  why  was 
it  absurd  to  attribute  it  to  the  acts  of  beings  greater  than 
man?  Apollo  was  invisible  to  the  eye  of  flesh,  according  to  the 
myths,  yet  he  could  both  cause  and  heal  the  bodily  ills  of 
men  and  could  inspire  his  priestesses  to  utter  prophecies  which 
the  ears  of  men  could  hear.  The  sickness  and  the  healing  and 


IM.ATl.    11 


■/.vu>  IS  appr.ui  hinn  swiJtlv  fmm  the  U-tt  aiui  with 
t.tisol  ni;ht  haiui  is  about  to  hull  a  thmulffbolt  at  a 
nu.nst.rwith  a  b.ar.lnl  hi.n.a-.  hca.l  and  a  wii.trr.l 
trunk  tirmmatm;^  u)  tw..  lun;:  scrpcnt-likr  c.ls. 
The  creature,  pr..bablv  Tn  phoii,  l....ks  at  the  Kint;  u( 
th(  (;..ds  in  ^rcat  alarm  and  madlv  lashi-s  about  with 
h.s  sialv  b.-dv  in  a  vain  ■.iidiavour  to  escape  from  the 
doom  awaitiii.j:  him.  Krom  a  C'halkidian  hy>Hu  of 
about  f.50  .'.A.,  in  Mumeh  |  Kurtwangler-Rcichhold, 
(;.,v.A/.,/v  l\,^i>im,il.<t!.  No.  ,<2).      vSce  pp.  xii,  8  4. 


MHH)l-A     BhHKADKI) 

The  unu|ue  feature  of  this  vase-paintins:  is  that  it 
represents  the  three  CJorjions  after  the  Hight  of  Perseus 
with  .Medousa's  head.  The  two  inuiiortal  sisters  arc 
apparentl\  iust  settinp  out  in  pursuit  of  the  sla\cr,  as 
their  spread  wiims,  bent  knees,  and  swinfiing  hands 
vuidlv  indicate.  '  The  bodv  of  Medousa  is  about  to 
fall  inertly  to  the  .ground.  From  a  black-h^ured  sk\- 
pho>  of  the  late  sixth  century  in  .,  in  Athens  (  Cataloi-uf 
',/r,  ;y;w.  peinti  ,iu  mu„e  naty.mihr  hhhm,  Suppl.ment 
p,!,   (ir^i'ti  \u',u;  Plate  XI).      See  p.  34. 


:| 

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ill. 

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INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  M\THS     xliii 

the  prophesying  were  facts,  and  none  could  prove  that  any 
other  than  Apollo  was  responsible  for  them.  To  believe  that 
he  actually  was  responsible  fed  the  fancy,  and  without  fancy 
there  was  no  zest  in  life.  The  souls  of  the  departed  were  said 
to  be  gathered  together  in  a  dark  realm  beneath  the  earth. 
For  to  what  other  place  could  they  have  disappeared  after 
burial  or  cremation?  No  god  or  hero  was  represented  by  a 
myth-maker  as  initiating  any  movement  simultaneous  with 
the  narration  of  the  myth.  The  reason  for  this  is  now  obvious; 
such  a  statement  would  be  so  open  to  the  scrutiny  of  contem- 
poraries that  criticism  and  the  fear  of  criticism  would  destroy 
the  illusion  and  the  charm  which  the  s^ory  might  otherwise 

possess. 

(d)  The  most  generally  recognized  characteristic  of  myth  is 
the  ^'act  that  it  is  a  product  of  the  imagination,  and  so,  popu- 
lariy  though  erroneously,  the  mythical  is  regarded  as  the  exact 
equivalent  of  the  imaginary.  Nevertheless,  since  the  special 
function  of  the  imagination  is  to  create,  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  all  its  creations  must  conform  to  the  attested  experience 
of  mankind  or  to  what  we  may  estimate  as  probable.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  most  of  the  details  of  the  myths  relate  to  the 
improbable,  but  the  probable  and  improbable  alike  were  held 
to  be  true  by  the  people  among  whom  the  legends  had  cur- 
rency. 

We  may  now  sum  up  the  results  of  our  analysis  with  a  work- 
ing definition: 

A  myth  is  a  statement,  or  a  virtual  statement  as  implied  tn 
a  symbol,  an  attribute,  or  an  epithet,  accepted  as  true  by  its 
original  maker  and  his  hearers,  and  referring  to  the  eternal  na- 
ture and  past  acts  of  beings  greater  than  man,  and  frequently  to 
circumstances  zi'hich  are  to  us  improbable  or  impossible. 

2.  The  Origin  of  Myth.  —  It  is  no  more  possible  to  detail 
one  and  all  the  impulses,  singly  or  in  classes,  which  have  given 
rise  to  myth  than  it  is  to  discover  and  give  the  full  tale  of  all 
the  fountain-heads  of  a  great  rl  -cr.   Yet  we  find  that  we  can 


xliv     INTRODUCTIOX  TO  THE  GREEK  MYTHS 

account  for  the  origin  of  a  river  in  a  way  wliich  servos  all  prac- 
tical purposes.  Is  it  not  within  our  power  to  explain  the  be- 
pinninps  vf  myth  to  the  same  extent,  even  though  the  ad- 
mission must  be  made  that  the  task  is  infinitely  more  difficult, 
involving,  as  it  does,  all  the  subtleties  of  human  nature  and 
an  almost  inextrieable  tangle  of  theories? 

The  statement  that  the  mainspring  of  all  myth  is  personi- 
fication and  metaphor  has  too  much  of  the  weakness  of  epi- 
gram: it  explains  only  after  ont'  has  learned  why  personification 
and  myth  have  any  powir  at  all.  To  say  that  every  myth 
is  an  answer  u>  a  question  <.f  primitive  man  regarding  some 
pheiir.mcnon  <if  the  universe  gives  a  more  satisfactory  reason 
in  that  it  implies  a  certain  riUellectual  attitude  in  man.  But 
.•ven  this  does  not  l'o  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter,  for  it  fails 
to  show  why  the  answers  are  cast  as  they  are.  It  remained 
for  the  modern  evolutionary  biologist  to  supply  a  broad  and 
fundamental  explanation,  just  as  each  human  being  between 
conception  and  maturity  passes  successively  through  all  the 
stages  of  the  biological  development  of  the  race,  so  all  human 
minds  at  the  same  stage  of  racial  progress  act  in  virtually  the 
same  wav,  the  flight  variations  which  occur  being  due  in  large 
part  to  ditRrences  in  external  environment.  It  must  be  frankly 
confessed  that  this  statement,  like  that  of  the  theory  of  uni- 
versal evolution,  is  not  susceptible  of  proof  in  every  instance; 
nevertheless,  it  .stands  as  the  best  working  hypothesis  which 
the  modern  student  of  the  folk-ways  has  been  able  to  secure. 
No  one  ventures  to  assert  that  it  is  final. 

How,  then,  does  primitive  man  tend  to  think  of  the  world? 
Investigators  tull  us  that  he  cannot  distinguish  between  life 
and  no  life.  Knowing  his  own  power  to  bring  things  to  pass  by 
means  of  calculation  and  will,  he  attributes  these  same  facul- 
ties in  varying  degrees  to  everything  in  nature  outside  of  him- 
self. In  other  words,  he  endows  everything  with  personality. 
To  him  the  beast  is  the  peer  of  man  in  astuteness  and  purpose- 
fulness,    and    tree,    mountain,    and    sea    are    sentient    beings. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  MYTHS    xlv 

Here  metaphor  plays  its  part.  For  example,  the  simple  poetic 
statement,  "The  sun  drives  his  car  across  the  heavens,"  can 
under  stress  of  emotion  be  stripped  of  its  similitude  and  be 
cast  in  the  categorical  form.  "The  sun  is  a  driver  and  he  rides 
in  a  car  across  the  heavens";  and  belief  in  it  as  a  truth  can  be 
engendered  and  fostered  by  allusions  to  that  effect  in  art  and 
ritual.  From  this  illustration  it  may  be  gathered  that  the 
primitive  mind  demands  objectivity  in  the  expression  of  its 
thought.  This  is  indeed  true,  and  will  explain  the  lack  of  ab- 
stractions in  myth  except  when  they  are  presented  as  concrete 
personalities. 

Another  characteristic  of  man  in  this  immature  stage  is 
that  he  is  unable  to  see  the  inherent  connexion  of  things.  He 
is,  therefore,  likely  to  be  unduly  sensitive  to  the  startling 
phenomena  of  nature  and  to  the  unusual  incidents  of  his  social 
life;  while  his  fancy,  exaggerating  these  beyond  all  warrant, 
contrives  impossible  explanations  of  their  origin  along  the  same 
lines  as  his  theories  of  the  beginnings  of  the  commonplaces  of 
his  existence.  Here  lies  the  reason  for  the  mythic  prominence 
of  the  lightning,  the  earthquake,  beasts  of  prey,  monsters  of 
the  sea,  wars,  tyrants,  the  rise  ana  fall  of  dynasties,  and  the 

like. 

In  some  quarters  the  belief  now  prevails  that  most  myths 
have  arisen  from  the  misunderstanding  of  rituals,  of  worship 
and  magic  alike,  whose  first  meanings  have  been  forgotten; 
and  it  is  asserted  that  a  sincere  attempt  to  clothe  them  with  a 
definite  import  for  the  worshipper  has  been  the  immediate 
cause  of  myth.  This  is  undoubtedly  true  in  many  instances. 
The  stories  of  the  Kouretes'  defence  of  the  infant  Zeus  and  of 
Skiron's  murder  of  travellers  seem  to  belong  to  this  class  of 
legends.  Akin  to  them  are  those  which  have  obviously  grown 
out  of  the  misinterpretation  of  the  cult-titles  of  divinities. 

To  avoid  confusion  we  have  thus  far  assumed  that  all  myths 
are  the  spontaneous  issue  of  the  primitive  mind.  Unfortunately 
this  is  a  theory  which  we  cannot  verify,  although  we  are  prob- 


xlvi    INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  M\THS 

ably  safe  in  saying  that  at  least  the  germ  of  every  true  myth 
is  of  this  order.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are  unable  thus  to 
account  for  all  the  details  with  which  the  germs  have  gradually 
become  encrusted.  It  is  impossible  to  disbelieve  that  many  a 
myth  has  been  deliberately  reshaped  at  some  time  or  other 
to  satisfy  an  exacting  aesthetic  or  moral  sense,  or  to  secure  the 
semblance  of  a  religious  sanction  for  a  definite  cause  or  for  a 
course  of  action.  It  has  been  suggested  that,  for  instance,  the 
story  of  the  dreadful  end  of  the  inquisitive  sisters  of  Pandrosos 
was  a  priestly  fabrication  to  frighten  worshippers  into  sub- 
mission to  a  rule  of  ritual:  and  one  can  scarcely  doubt  that  the 
cycle  of  the  Theseus  myths  contains  many  conscious  additions, 
if  not  inventions.  In  this  class  we  do  not  include  the  manipu- 
lations of  myths  in  the  hands  of  the  poets,  for  in  the  popular 
view  the  work  of  these  divinely  inspired  men  enhanced  rather 
than  invalidated  the  truth  of  the  stories. 

If  one  would  gain  an  insight  into  the  sudden  birth  of  myth 
from  a  mere  nothing  at  times  of  high  spiritual  tension  in  a 
CMinmunlty,  let  him  turn  to  the  pages  of  Thais  where  Anatole 
France  describes  the  weaving  of  the  tissue  of  tales  about  the 
person  of  Paphnuce  after  he  has  become  a  holy  man  and  taken 
his  place  upon  the  pillar,  or  to  the  lines  in  Noyes's  epic,  Drake, 
in  which  the  great  admiral,  on  learning  of  the  sailing  of  the 
Armada,  unconcernedly  picks  up  a  piece  of  wood  and  whittles 
away  at  it  with  his  knife: 

"So  LTcat  and  calm  a  master  of  the  world 
Seemed  Drake  that  as  he  whittled  and  the  chips 
I'luttercJ  uito  the  blackness  o'er  the  quay, 
Men  said  that  in  this  hciur  of  England's  need 
Each  till}'  tlakc  turned  to  a  battle-ship." 

?.  Siir.ction  and  Pt-r.<{stcnce  of  Myth.  —  Were  we  able  to 
explain  just  why  a  fashion,  a  catchword,  or  a  phrase  of  slang 
hcLMnies  popular,  we  should  likewise  be  able  to  account  for  the 
initial  acceptance  of  a  myth.  All  that  we  can  say  concerning 
such  things  is  that  they  supply  a  need,  or  answer  a  craving,  or 


PLATE  III 

Dionysus  and  a  Maenad 

Dionysos  is  shown  reclining  on   a  very  elaborate 
couch.      In  his  right  hand  he  holds  a  kantharoi  .n  a 
very  fastidious  manner,  and  in  his  left,  a  thyr^os.     The 
long   flowing  ringlets  of  his  hair,  the   curves  of  h.s 
arms  and  bodv,  and  the  soft  texture  of  h.s  drapery 
combine  to  give  the  god  a  decidedly  etfeminate  appear- 
ance     A  Maenad  is  extending  a  tray  of  viands  toward 
him  from  the  rieht,  and  an  Eros  flies  down  from  the 
left  to  crown  him  with  a  wreath  of  leaves.     At  the 
extreme  left  a  tympnnon  and  a  thynos,  in  the  hands  of 
a  second   Maenad,  are  barelv  visible.     From  a  red- 
figured  kruur  of  the  late  fifth  century  B.C.,  in  Athens 
(Catahzue  ,i^s  vusa  pants  du  musk  nationaW Menes, 
Supplenunt  par  Giorga  NUole,  Plate   XX).      bee  pp. 
215  ft"- 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  MYTHS    xlvii 

arouse  the  interest  of  the  majority  of  a  social  group.  But  this 
really  explains  nothing.  An  established  myth  has  all  of  these 
qualifications  —  and  something  more.  That  something  is  its 
religious  appeal,  and  its  strength  lies  in  the  fact  that  any 
religion  embraces  for  the  people  who  profess  it  the  sum  total 
of  their  highest  interests.  It  is  not  hard,  then,  to  conceive 
that  certain  circumstances  should  arise  in  which  a  story  of 
powerful  eternal  beings  suddenly  engages  the  attention  of  a 
community  and  is  received  as  though  it  were  a  confirmed  truth. 
Once  the  acceptance  of  it  has  been  granted,  the  path  to  the 
explanation  of  its  persistence  is  clear  and  open. 

In  the  first  place,  the  mere  fact  that  it  has  been  accepted 
becomes  to  the  social  mind  a  reason  why  it  should  continue 
to  be  accepted.  "Everybody  believes  it"  is  as  valid  a  reason 
for  the  conformist  in  religion  as  "Everybody  wears  it"  is  for 
the  devotee  of  a  fashion.  The  social  psychologist  says  the 
same  thing  in  other  words:  the  mores  have  the  authority  of 
facts.*  In  the  next  place,  sheer  habit  and  the  difficulty  of  in- 
venting new  myths  will  often  cause  the  retention  of  a  legend 
long  after  it  has  lost  its  touch  with  the  community's  mode  of 
life  and  thought  —  a  phenomenon  which  is  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  the  ignorant  stratum  of  a  population.  Again,  conscious 
respect  for  the  convictions  and  opinions  of  former  generations 
plays  an  important  part.  In  its  ideal  form  this  deference  be- 
comes a  belief  in  a  Golden  Age  in  the  past,  a  period  not  merely 
of  ease  and  bliss,  but  one  in  which  the  wonders  of  legend  were 
normal  occurrences.  Then  man  was  close  to  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  the  divinities  and  had  thereby  a  special  knowledge 
of  their  will  and  power.  To  deny  the  traditions  which  these 
enlightened  souls  have  handed  down  is  to  brand  them  as  liars. 
The  spirit  of  the  trite  excuse  of  the  orthodox,  "My  grand- 
father's religion  was  good  enough  for  him,  and  is  therefore 
good  enough  for  me,"  has  served  as  a  valid  reason  for  the  per- 
severance of  many  ever  since  traditional  faiths  began  to  be. 
Finally,  the  ipse  dixit  of  a  priest,  the  pronouncement  of  an 


xlviii     INTRODl  CTIOX  TO  THE  CRKKK   MYTHS 

oraclo,  tlic  \\('i\!>  of  a  li\  niii  or  ivm  <>f  a  i.i.iilar  poi-m,  tlio  al- 
lu>i<>ii  of  a  ciTi-motiial  tonmila,  or  tlu-  >ui.M.'i'sti(iii  of  a  sacioJ 
sviiihol  may  uiw  such  an  apparent  loiifirinatioii  of  a  myth 
in  part  or  uhi'K'  as  to  strriiL'tlu  n  faith  in  its  issriitia!  \irity. 

4.  Tlh-  .\dti,n-  of  tlu-  i',r,-,k  R,'':'inn.-~'V\\v  Crick  nligion, 
so  far  a>  wc  can  triithfullv'  pndicau-  an\  thiii,u'  at  all  of  religious 
oriirins,  liaJ  its  r(X)ts  in  the  pn-animistic  stratum  of  thought. 
The  primitive  Greek,  like  tlu-  early  Roman,  as  ue  shall  see, 
worshipped  natural  objects  and  phenomena  for  their  own  sake, 
althou-jli  lii>  attitude  touanl  them  shifted  according  as  they 
furtliered  or  hindered  his  welfare.  Tmceeding  a  little  further, 
he  sums  to  have  become  convinced  of  the  existence  within 
them.  \et  inseparable  from  tluin,  of  a  sort  of  potency  or  life- 
pi  Aver  uiKtnuiK  He  was  now  in  the  aniniist.  stage.  Finally, 
he  observed  that  while  in  the  main  their  powers  manifested 
tliemselves  in  a  uniform  manner,  \  et  they  showed  a  remark- 
able teiideiK}-  to  vary,  the  only  satisfactory  explanation  being 
that  tluy  must  be  due  to  agents  as  free  in  initiative  as  arc 
himian  beings.  Accepting  this  theory,  he  endowed  the  powers 
in  his  habits  of  thought  with  will,  and,  little  by  little,  with 
the  other  attributes  of  personality.  They  had  at  last  become 
gods.'-  The  assignment  of  names  to  them  and  the  localization 
of  their  cults  strengtliened  the  popular  conviction  in  their 
personal  nature.  The  history  of  one  god  in  epitome  may  serve 
as  an  illustration.  Zeus  was  first  the  sky;  next  the  power  within 
the  sky;  and,  lastly,  the  divine  person  with  whom  the  sky- 
power  was  identified.^  We  can  now  perceive  the  othenvise 
obscure  truth  of  the  statement  that  "The  god  himself  [i.  e. 
any  Greek  god],  when  conceived,  was  not  the  reality  but  only 
a  symbf-l  to  help  toward  conceiving  the  reality."  ' 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred,  however,  that  the  several  steps  from 
potency  to  deity  were  as  clearly  marked  as  the  necessity  of 
gaining  a  compact  view  has  forced  us  to  represent  them; 
nor  must  we  think  that  when  a  god  rose  from  one  stage  to 
the  next  he  left  behind  him  all  traces  of  his  lower  estate.   As 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  M\THS    xHx 

a  matter  of  fact,  to  practically  every  god  at  the  very  highest 
point  of  his  spiritual  career  clung  some  disfiguring  stains  of 
the  earth  of  the  pit  out  of  which  he  had  been  digged.  This  w-as 
due  to  the  intense  spirit  of  freedom  of  each  community,  its 
desire  to  worship  the  god  as  it  saw  fit  and  according  to  its  own 
local  needs.    If  the  community  was  marked  by  a  high  degree 
of  civilization,  its  gods  were  of  the  nobler  type;  if  on  a  low  stage 
of  development,  iis  gods  were  of  a  coarser  grade;  and  further, 
if  the  community  was  open  to  influence  from  the  outside,  the 
traits  of  its  gods  were  of  a  mixed  character.    This,  together 
with  a  certain  though  sluggish  tendency  toward  a  change  of 
the  conceptions  of  the  god  within  the  independent  commu- 
nity, will  account  in  large  part  for  the  bewildering  multiplicity 
of  the  Greek   divinities  and   their  attributes.    The  greatest 
difficulty  that  confronts  the  modern  student  is  to  determine 
which  forms  and  which  attributes  of  the  developed  god  were 
the  original  ones;  and  it  is  almost  humiliating  to  have  to  con- 
fess that  the  instances  in  which  we  can  be  even  reasonably 
certain  are  very  few. 

The  intimate  relation  ot  the  gods  to  the  life-interests  of  men 
gave  the  Greek  religion  its  distinctive  stamp;  it  brought  the 
gods  down  to  earth  in  the  likeness  and  with  the  passions  of 
men,  so  that  in  time  of  need  the  worshipper  had  but  to  reach 
out  his  hand  to  touch  his  divine  helper.  This  constant  sense 
of  nearness  lifted  from  his  heart  the  leaden  awe  imposed  by  the 
worship  of  distant  deities  and  filled  it  with  a  wholesome  joy  of 
life  and  a  buoyant  spirit  of  confidence.  Yet  the  Greek  cults 
were  not  individualistic  nor  marked  by  missionaiy  zeal;  the 
selfish  interests  of  the  clan,  the  tribe,  and  the  state  were  alto- 
gether too  imperious. 

5.  The  Unique  Character  of  Greek  Myth.  —  It  is  probable 
that  to  the  majority  of  readers  the  most  striking  feature  of  the 
Greek  myths  is  the  variety  observable  in  all  phases  of  their 
composition.  The  number  of  their  themes  falls  little  shorty  of 
the  sum  total  of  the  activities  of  Greek  life,  private  and  social, 
1  —  4 


1         INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  MYTHS 

intellectual  and  physical,  uli^rious  and  secular.  Tlio  ilitails 
with  which  they  are  emlHliislied  .seem  to  represent  all  possible 
combinations  of  tlie  circumstances  of  actual  experience  with 
the  inventions  of  fancy.  The  technique  of  their  presentation, 
like  that  of  the  ^'reatest  artist-;,  is  nK)St  sensitively  adapted  to 
the  shifting  subject-matter.  In  brief,  they  have  in  these  re- 
spects the  marks  of  the  hi^'hest  art,  and  this  is  the  burden 
of  Gruppe's  prejrnant  statement,  "Greek  deity  ...  is  what 
nature  lacks  to  become  art."  ^  interpreted  in  the  liglit  of  the 
essential  connexion  between  true  myth  and  religion. 

.\nother  strong  feature  of  the  Greek  myths  is  their  sin- 
cerity. Tliey  have  th"  ring  of  genuine  chronicles  of  fact,  and 
we  feel  nr>  astonishment  that  for  ages  they  should  have  been 
considered  to  be  veritable  history,  although  it  is  surprising 
that,  chaPL'cd  as  they  were  with  such  an  auth-rJty,  they  never 
became  dogmatic  statements  of  inalterable  truth.  Belief  in 
tiiem  did  not  constitute  a  measure  of  orthodoxy  and  they 
could  thus  be  freely  employed  for  a  variety  of  purposes  —  as 
vehicles  of  religious  and  moral  instruction,  as  history,  as  themes 
for  philosopiiical  argument,  as  literature,  or  as  a  means  of 
entertainment.  The  fact  that  they  could  be  used  to  serve  the 
purpose  last  mentioned  without  causing  religious  offence  is 
remarkable  testimony  to  the  good  comradeship  existing  be- 
tween the  Greek  beliex'er  and  his  god. 

6.  Kinds  0/  Myth. — The  classification  of  myths  must  of 
necessity  be  arbitrary  and  must  vary  with  the  mood  and  ob- 
ject of  the  investigator.  If,  for  instance,  he  seeks  to  discrimi- 
nate between  those  which  are  the  products  of  a  sane  and  sober 
imagination  and  those  whose  elements  are  in  the  main  absurd, 
grotesque,  and  monstrous,  he  would  classify  them  as  rational 
and  irrational.  If  he  were  endeavouring  to  single  out  those 
which  seem  to  have  been  invented  as  explanations,  he  would 
divide  them  into  the  two  categories  of  aetiological  and  non- 
aetif. logical.  The  possibilities  of  classification  are  unlimited, 
and  in  every  case  the  capti(ms  would  consist  of  a  positive  and  a 


PLATK    IV 

1 .    Fi.orroN 

I'loutoii  (H:iiic>),  with  a  loftv  kaluthos  on  his  head,  is  seated  on  a 
throne,  sxraspinj;  a  sceptre  in  his  left  hand,  and  letting  his  right  rest 
on  line  of  the  heads  of"  kerbcros.  On  cither  side  of  hiin  arc  Kastor 
and  Polvdciikes,each  standnig  beside  his  horse.  From  a  convex  sar- 
don\  X  ( A.  Furtwangler,  Jntike  Gemmen,  i,  Plate  XLIV,  Fig.  4).  See 
pp.  142-43,  ^33^- 

2.  Apoi.i.o  and  Marsvas 

Apollo  with  a  pli-ktron  in  one  hand  and  a  lyre  in  the  other  is  stand- 
ing at  his  case  to  the  right.  Seated  beside  him  on  the  skin  of  a  lion 
or  a  panther,  and  bound  with  his  back  to  a  bare  tree,  is  Marsvas,  bear- 
ini;  all  the  marks  of  his  semi-bestial  nature.  A  flute-case  hangs  from 
a  branch  on  the  tree.  Kneeling  at  the  feet  of  Apollo  the  boy  Olympos 
(who  does  not  figure  in  the  mvth  as  narrated  in  the  text)  seems  to  be 
pleading  with  the  god  to  spare  the  Satyr's  life.  From  a  cut  carnelian 
in  Naples  (A.  Furtwangler,  Antike  Gfmmai,  i,  Plate  XLII,  Fig.  28). 
See  p.  181.  . 

3.  Head  of  Alkxander 

A  diadem,  knotted  behind  the  head,  can  be  seen  binding  the  thick 
wavv  hair.  Just  over  the  ear  is  the  horn  of  Ammon.  From  a  coin 
of  Lvsiniachos,  335-280  B.C.  (P.  Ciardiner,  I'he  Types  0/  Greek  CoinSy 
Plate  XII,  No.  16).     See  pp.  223  24. 

4.    Persephone 

The  head  of  the  goddess  seems  to  be  bound  by  a  thin  band  of 
wheat-straw.  The  dolphins  indicate  not  onlv  that  Syracuse  is  situated 
on  the  sea,  but  also  that  she  is  the  mistress  of  it.  From  a  coin  of 
Svracuse,  385-280  B.t.  (P.  (lardiner.  The  Types  of  Greek  Coins,  Plate 
\1,  No.  29).     See  pp.  227  rf". 

5.     Zn-^     AM)     DiONE 

Zeus  is  heif  depicted  with  the  earth  goddess  Dione,  his  wife  at 
Dodona  in  Fpciros,  the  site  of  his  oracular  oak.  From  a  coin  of 
Kpeiros,  280  146  B.C.  (P.  Ciardiner,  The  'Types  of  Greek  Cains,  Plate 
XII,  No.  44).      See  p.   156. 

6.    Pan 

Pan,  in  the  t;iiise  of  a  voung  hunter,  is  seated  on  a  rocky  ledge  of 
a  mountain  hol.ling  a  la!:oh'jlo'i  (hunting-olub)  in  his  right  hand.  At 
his  feet  lies  his  >\rinx,  the  so-called  pipes  of  Pan.  From  an  Arka- 
dian  coin,  43  l  -37  l  k.c.  (  P.  (Jardiner,  The  Txpes  of  Greek  Coins,  Plate 
VIII,  No.  32).     See  pp.  267   68. 


"'•^lifef/!'^. 


N 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  MITHS       li 

negative  term.   The  appended  list  is  given  merely  by  way  of 
suggestion. 

A.  According  to  external  elements. 

(1)  Myths  of  the  various  periods  of  tribal  or  national 
development. 

(2)  Myths  of  racial  stocks. 

(3)  Local  myths  (i.  e.  of  shrines,  towns,  cities,  states, 
districts,  islands,  etc.). 

(4)  Popular  and  official  myths. 

(5)  Poetical  and  prose  myths. 

B.  According  to  contents. 

(1)  Myths  of  the  gods. 

(2)  Nature-myths. 

(3)  Myths  of  origins  (i.  e.  of  the  world,  gods,  men,  arts, 
stars,  political  and  social  organizations,  etc.). 

(4)  Philosophical  myths. 

(5)  Allegorical  myths. 

(6)  Myths  of  the  hereafter. 

7.  Ifliat  'xe  may  Learn  from  Myths.  —  Naturally,  most  of  the 
facts  registered  by  a  body  of  myths  concern  religion.  Yet 
one  must  not  expect  to  find  in  them  more  than  a  partial  ac- 
count of  the  particular  religion  to  which  they  belong.  Being 
concrete  and  pictorial  in  character,  myths  can  set  forth  only 
those  features  which  are  susceptible  of  concrete  and  pictorial 
treatment.  Sacred  symbols  and  clear-cut  attributes  of  the 
gods  they  can  portray  almost  photographically;  the  figures  of 
the  gods  they  can  sketch  with  fairly  bold  outlines;  the  histories 
of  the  gods  and  some  of  their  subtle  attributes  they  can  sug- 
gest. On  the  other  hand,  they  can  tell  us  practically  nothing 
about  specific  rituals  and  the  exact  attitude  of  the  worshipper 
at  the  moment  of  worship;  were  they  to  become  formal 
registers  of  such  things,  they  would  cease  to  be  myths.  One 
must,  therefore,  complement  his  knowledge  of  religion,  as 
gleaned  from  myths,  with  the  available  records  of  cult. 


m 


Hi      INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK   MYTHS 

If  it  is  true,  and  we  believe  it  is,  tiiat  "religious  expression 
moves  along  with  the  general  progress  of  thought,"  •>  then  the 
myths  ought  to  ylekl  us  certain  facts  of  primitive  life  outside 
the  domain  of  religi(Mi  pmper.    For  example,  the  Greek  myths 
confirm  our  suspicions  that  the  earh    Hellenes  were  addicted 
to  magic.   Again  and  again  we  are  told  of  curses  being  invoked 
and  of  their  terrible  etTects  upon  their  victims;  wc  need  point 
merely  to  the  curse  of  Alkmaion  and  the  curse  of  Laios.    The 
union  of  Demeter  and  lasion  in  the  thricc-ploughcd  field  re- 
fers to  a  magic  device  to  briig  fertility  to  the  soil,  and  the  wild 
and  noisy  dance  of  the  Kouretes  undoubtedly  represents  a 
method  of  averting  evil  spirits  by  magic.    Myths  tell  us,  too, 
though    by   accident,    the   things   of   deepest   interest   to   the 
people  among  wh^ni  the  legends  circulated.   The  frequent  men- 
tion of  flocks  and  herds,  tillage,  forest,  and  grazing  land  would 
be  pointless  to  a  nation  of  miners  or  manufacturers.  The  social 
opjanization  of  the  Olympians  would  hav>-  no  appeal  were  it 
nut  a  replica  of  the  society  of  men.  The  allusion  to  the  bronze 
armour  of  Diomedes  would  not  be  understood  if  bronze  were 
an  unknown  metal.    From  the  stories  of  the  winds  one  can 
gather  in  part  the  meteorological  conditions  of  ancient  Greece. 
Bv  making  deduciiims  of  this  kind  many  facts  of  history  may 
be  recovered;  they  are  detached,  to  be  sure,  but  nevertheless  of 
considerable  value.    Incidentally,  some  of  them  are  useful  in 
the  determination  of  dates.  Just  as  we  can  calculate  the  period 
before  which  Milton  cannot  have  written  Paradise  Lost  because 
iA  his  attributirm  of   the   invention  of   cannon   to  Satan,  so 
we  can  be  reasonably  sure  that  those  myths  which  speak  of 
an  intimacy  between  Athens  and  Troizen  cannot  have  been 
given  the  form  in  which  we  now  know  them  prior  to  a  certain 
historical  alliance  between  Athens  and  a  group  of  Argolid  cities 
which  included  Troizen. 

Here,  as  everywhere,  the  argument  from  silence  is  to  be 
used  with  the  utmost  di>creti(.n.  Greek  myth  is  lacking  in 
allusion  to  sidereal  cults,  and  from  this  fact  the  inference  is 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  MYTHS     liii 


drawn  that  the  Crooks  were  originally  a  northern  people  — 
a  theory  which  is  probably  safe,  since  it  conforms  to  the  results 
of  investigations  am  ig  other  peoples.  In  all  such  instances, 
however,  one  must  demand  an  abundance  of  verified  parallels 
before  accepting  conclusions. 

8.  iU  '  and  Ethics.  —  Ever  since  the  Greek  myths  began  to 
be  stu  ..jd  critically  the  conduct  of  their  personages  has  been 
a  serious  ethical  problem.  Practically  every  evil  deed  forbidden 
by  society  and  religion  was  committed  by  the  gods  and  heroes, 
and  generally  with  startling  impunity.  The  common  opinion 
of  today  that  the  myths  are  unsafe  reading  for  the  young 
was  shared  by  Plato,^  who,  for  this  very  reason,  proposed  to 
debar  Homer  as  a  text-book  from  his  ideal  state.  In  the 
Ilippolytos  of  Euripides  "  the  amours  of  Zeus  and  Semele  and 
of  Kephalos  and  Eos  give  the  nurse  a  precedent  for  the  illicit 
satisfaction  of  love  which  she  suggests  to  Phaidra;  thus  the 
poet  practically  asserts  that  the  acts  of  the  gods,  as  narrated 
in  m>nh,  had  a  dir  ■;t  influence  on  the  behaviour  of  the  common 
people.  In  many  passages  in  his  treatise  on  ethics  Aristotle 
castigates  the  moral  standards  of  the  legends  in  reference  to 
certain  acts.  Certainly,  a  bad  case  is  made  out  against  the 
myths,  and  the  question  is,  can  any  defence  or  mitigating  ex- 
planation be  offered  in  their  behalf? 

It  might  be  well  to  learn,  if  we  can,  just  why  the  myths  con- 
tain such  immoral  elements.  In  the  first  place,  one  must  re- 
member that  they  are  survivals  of  an  earlier  age  when  men  were 
governed  by  inferior  ethical  ideals  to  which  the  gods  and  heroes 
were  bound  to  conform,  since  the  myth-maker  knew  no  higher. 
Even  had  he  fashioned  higher  motives  for  them  out  of  his  own 
mind,  every  act  of  god  and  hero  would  have  been  beyond  the 
ordinary  understanding,  and  the  myth,  no  matter  how  beauti- 
ful to  our  thinking,  would,  like  an  undiscovered  flower,  have 
wasted  its  fragrance  on  the  desert  air.  To  the  contemporaries 
of  the  myth-maker  the  behaviour  of  the  divinities,  however 
wrong  it  may  appear  now,  was  right,  and  an  appreciation  of 


liv      iNTRODUCTIOX  TO  THE  CREEK  MYTHS 

this  will  render  the  immorality  of  the  myths  innocuous  to  the 
modern  reader.  Another  fact  —  doubtless  startling  to  many  — 
must  be  emphasized  here:  that  is,  there  is  no  obligatory  con- 
nexion between  every  relit'i<m  and   morality.    Christianity  is 
almost  unique  in  that  it  insists  upon  the  inseparable  union  of 
the  two,  but  we  must  not  read  this  requirement  into  other 
faiths  as  .".  matter  of  fact.   If,  then,  to  the  Greek  religion  was 
one  function  of  man  and  morality  another,  there  was  no  neces- 
sary conflict  between  the  myth  as  a  vehicle  of  religious  thought 
and  the  ethical  character  of  its  details.    Any  positive  moral 
elements  discoverable  in  myth  were  largely  accidental.   They 
came  in  despite  a  certain  contempt,  common  to  most  religions, 
for  mere  ethics.   Moreover,  the  bard's  task  was  not  to  preach; 
it  was  to  present  divine  truths  in  an  attractive  and  cogent  form. 
Again,  many  primitive  peoples  allow  for  two  ethical  standards, 
one  for  themselves  and  the  other  for  outsiders.    It  may  be  that 
the  Greek  tolerated  the  iniquity  of  his  gods  because,  though 
like  men,  they  were  essentially  a  difTerent  folk.    Lastly,  we 
must  be  on  our  guard  against  counting  as  immoral  or  obscene 
what  was  in  origin  not  of  this  character.   For  instance,  it  seems 
probable  that  the  frequent  attribution  of  the  creation  of  cer- 
tain things  in  the  world  to  the  sexual  relations  of  divinities  is 
due  primarily  to  the  inability  of  the  Hellene  to  explain  abso- 
lute beginnings  in  any  other  way. 

But  why  did  the  later  and  more  morally  sensitive  genera- 
tions of  Greeks  not  purge  the  myths  of  this  evil.'  One  reason 
is  that  it  was  conventional  to  accept  the  myths  intact,  and  con- 
ventionality, like  charity,  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins.  In- 
stinctively we  tolerate  today  the  reading  of  certain  passages  of 
the  Bible  before  mixed  congregations  because  the  Bible,  like 
some  secular  thing,  has  come  under  the  authority  of  conven- 
tionality. Doubtless  the  attitude  of  many  high-minded  Greeks 
was  much  the  same  toward  the  recital  of  their  myths.  Another 
reason  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  Greek  religion.  It  was  not  a 
revivalistic  religion  in  any  sense  of  the  term,  and  especially 


M 


PLATE    V 


Zephvros 


Zcphvros,  suggcstivdv  characterized  as  a  winged 
vouth  of  mild  and  kindly  countenaiicf  iiid  of  soft 
bodilv  contours,  is  leisurely  flying  from  the  west  bear- 
ing a  generous  burden  of  flowers  in  a  fold  of  his  gar- 
ment. From  a  relief  on  the  Tower  of  Andronikos 
(so-called  Tower  of  the  Winds)  in  Athens  (Brunn- 
Hruckmann,  Denkniiiler  griechi'cher  und  rbmischir  Sculp- 
ture No.  30).      Sec  p.  266. 


m 


lit 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  M\THS      Iv 

not  in  the  connotation  which  Implies  a  conscious  cutting  away 
from  the  past.  Changes  ilicrc  were  in  the  myths, o(  course,  but 
through  acquisition  and  not  through  any  spir^ual  refining. 
The  new  wine  was  put  into  tiic  old  bottles,  and  in  the  end  the 
bottles  burst  nnd  perished. 

The  evil  Oi  myths,  like  tliat  of  men,  lives  after  them,  but  is 
that  a  warrant  for  interring  the  good  that  may  be  in  them? 
Though  their  positive  moral  elements  are,  alon^'  with  their 
general  fabric,  incidental  survivals,  they  require  due  recogni- 
tion. We  must  not  forget  the  .launch  moral  charactt  ••  of  Apollo, 
of  the  nobler  Zeus,  and  of   the  Erinyes.    In       c  punishment 
of  certain  sins  they  were  relentless.  Over  against  the  frequent 
flouting  of  the  law  of  conjugal  fidelity  by  the  gods  and  heroes 
we  must  hold  the  beautiful  pictures  -f  the  faithful  Penelope 
and  of  Prokris  and  Kephalos.  There  is  a  tone  of  censure  run- 
ning through  the  myths  that  tell  of  the  adultery  of  Klytai- 
mestra  and  Aigisthos.    Diomcdcs'  rejection  of  his  wife  on  the 
discovery  of  her  infidelity  can  m(  an  nothing  else  than  that  the 
people  among  whom  the  myth  was  almost  gospel  truth  insisted 
at  least  on  a  code  of  morals  for  wives.    Alkino6s  showed  his 
respect  for  the  social  sanctity  of  marriage  vows  when  he  re- 
fused to  part  lason  and  Mcdeia  if  they  were  already  man  and 
wife.   Moreover,  mere  chastity  had  a  value  set  upon  it.    Kal- 
Hsto  and  Auge  were  certainly  not  held  up  in  myths  as  models 
of  what  maidens  should  be,  and  Hippolytos,  Bcllcrophon,  and 
Pcleus,  though  to  some  extent  regarded  as  prigs,  stood,  never- 
theless, as  worthy  examples  of  self-restraint.  The  enomity  of 
taking  human  life,  especially  that  of  kindred  and  of  friends,  is 
emphasized  in  many  myths.   Orestes'  fulfilment  of  a  religious 
obligation  by  slaying  his  mother  did  not  absolve  him  from  the 
stain  of  shedding  family  blood.    Herakles  had  to  pay  dearly 
for  the  murder  of  his  children,  and,  later,  for  that  of  his  trust- 
ing friend,  Iphitos.   Assaults  upon  the  honour  of  women  were 
recognized  as  distinctly  immoral.   For  his  attack  upon  Alkippe, 
Halirrhothios,  though  the  son  of  a  god,  was  haled  before  Are- 


Ivi     INTRODLCnON   TO  THE  C.RKl-K   NHTHS 

opa^'os.  The  story  of  AtlK-nt-'s  wrath  against  the  Icssir  Aias 
atti-sts  tho  inviMlahility  of  suppliants  as  an  article  in  thr  primi- 
tive mural  oJe.  Lastly,  but  by  n<.  means  the  least  important, 
i<  the  I.Kt  tliat  several  cycles  of  myth  recopnize  a  moral  taint 
tliat  clings  to  certain  families  from  generation  to  generation. 
The  statement  that  curses  rested  on  the  houses  of  Tantalos 
and  I.aios  was  the  mythic  manner  of  recording  the  definite 
moral  bent  of  these  families  and  the  inevitable  consequences 
,,f  their  >ins.  To  explain  tlie  phenomenon  with  our  modern 
biologists  as  one  of  heredity,  docs  not  strip  it  of  its  moral 
significance. 

9.  Myth  and  Art.  —  Throughout  the  ages  there  has  been  a 
close  affinity  between  religion  and  art  —  art  in  the  broadest 
sense.    The  poet,  the  sculptor,  and  the  painter  have  always 
been  among  the  chief  interpreters  of  the  religion  of  their  day 
and  generation.   Who  can  prove  that  they  have  not  been  more 
convincing  and  commanding  than  the  priest?    Certainly  the 
products  of  their  efforts  have  been  more  enduring,  for  when  the 
faiths  of  which  they  were  the  exponents  have  long  since  ceased 
to  stir  the  hearts  of  men  they  have  still  about  them  certain 
elements  whose  appeal  is  everlasting.    Olympianism  is  dead, 
but  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  of  Homer  still  live  on.   What  is  this 
vital  spirit.'   It  is  seen  in  the  difference  between  ritual  and  art. 
Ritual  is  religion  in  action,  and  as  such  it  need  not  be  reflec- 
tive; indeed,  it  generally  is  not.   Art,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the 
sincere  endeavour  of  a  human  soul,  momentarily  detached  from 
the  activities  of  life  and  ritual  and  und.r  the  domination  of  a 
clarifving  emotion,  to  find  for  itself  and  to  reveal  to  others  a 
vision  of  the  highest  social  ideals  of  the  time.    Ritual  appeals 
to  the  initiate,  to  the  sect;  art  with  its  beauty  and  subtlety  of 
suggestion  appeals  to  a  universal  instinct.    The  measure  of  a 
work  of  art  is  the  strength  of  its  claim  on  all  mankind.    By 
this  standard  we  can  compare  the  worth  of  Hesiod  and  Homer, 
of  an  archaic  Apollo  and   the  Apollo  Belvedere.    Respective 
degrees  of   workmanship  and  finish  arc  of  value  only  so  far 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  NHTHS     Ivii 

as  they  conform,  or  fail  to  conform,  to  the  exactions  of  the 
iJial  toward  which  the  artint  strives. 

\Vc  have  dwelt  thus  long  on  the  nature  and  function  of  art 
in  order  the  more  clearly  to  reveal  the  relation  of  Greek  myth 
to  Greek  religion.   The  religious  material  of  most  of  the  m>ths 
which  have  come  down  to  us  was  simply  crass  superstition, 
hut,  taken  over  b)  devout  and  inspired  bards,  it  was  passed  at 
the  white  heat  of  emotion  through  the  refining  pot  of  their 
spirits  and  came  «)Ut  transformed  as  poetry.   Later  Homer  ap- 
peared.*   With  his  superior  gifts  he  fused  this  poetry  and  a 
number  of  crude  superstitions  into  the  noble  epics  that   arc 
attributed  to  his  name.   This  gave  the  needed  impulse  to  a 
long  succession  of  lesser  poets.  The  gods  and  heroes  of  Homer 
were  common  property  and  had  a  remoteness  from  the  life- 
interests  of  the   bards'  own   local   communities   which   gave 
them,  as  it  were,  a  licence  for  moulding  them  as  they  could 
not  mould  their  local  gods  and  heroes.    The  painter  and  the 
sculptor  followed  in  their  steps.    Imitating,  as  they  did,  ideal- 
izing and  relatively  refined  models,  they  could  not  themselves 
but  represent  the  ideal  and  the  refined.  This  is  the  reason  why 
the  gross  elements  of  the  myths  and  popular  superstitions  rarely 
thrust  themselves  into  the  higher  sculpture,  and  with  but  little 
more  frequency  into  vase-painting,  the  least  noble  of  the  Greek 

arts. 

lo.  Methods  of  Interpreting  Myth.  —  A  citation  of  the  most 
important  methods  of  interpreting  myths,  with  brief  comment, 
is  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  this  volume. 

1.  The  natural  method.  Followers  of  this  system  would 
trace  practically  every  legend  back  to  a  primitive  account  of 
some  natural  phenomenon  or  group  of  phenomena.  According 
to  them  myths  arc  solar,  lunar,  or  astral;  or  are  to  be  referred 
to  light,  the  winds,  clouds,  rain,  vegetation,  and  so  forth. 

2.  The  philological  method.  The  leading  exponent  of  this 
school  of  interpretation  was  F.  Ma.\  Miiller.  Its  practice  is 
to  account  for  myths  as  the  sequelae  of  "disease  of  language"; 


Ut' 


Ivili    INTRODUCTIOX  TO  THE  GREEK  MYTHS 

in  other  words,  as  confusions  resulting  from  a  misunderstand- 
ing of  terms  that  have  persisted  in  speech  after  tlieir  .original 
meaning  has  been  lost.  The  weakness  of  this  method,  now 
abandoned  in  its  extreme  form,  is  that  it  docs  not  square  with 
our  present  knowledge  of  the  primitive  mind;  further,  the 
etymologies  on  which  it  bases  its  conclusions  are  generally- 
uncertain  and  often  false. 

V  The  rationalizing  (euhemeristic)  method.  The  first  to 
applv  this  method  systematically  was  Euhcmeros,  a  Greek  of 
the  third  century  b.c.  The  deification  of  the  victorious  Alex- 
ander forced  many  to  the  omclusion  that  the  great  gods  of 
tradition  were  human  beings  who  had  been  exalted  to  the 
sky  for  their  benefactions  to  humanity.  Euhemeros  took  over 
the  idea  and  used  it  in  his  historical  romance  of  Alexander. 
This  school,  therefore,  regards  myths  as  nothing  more  than 

perverted  histi  iry. 

4.  The  allegorical  method.  With  the  inability  to  accept  the 
old  legends  attempts  were  made  even  long  before  our  era  to 
read  higher  meanings  into  them,  and  from  them  was  evolved 
a  science  of  allegory.  Needless  to  say,  the  good  doctrinal 
matter  thus  elicited  from  the  myths  was  only  in  the  rarest  in- 
stances intended  by  their  autliors.  Moreover,  this  method  is 
too  mechanical  and  leaves  no  room  for  the  play  of  fancy. 

5.  The  poetical  method.  A  few  scholars  follow  0\  id  in 
candidly  proclaiming  their  belief  that  myths  are  purely  the 
figments  of  poetical  imagination. 

"I  prate  of  ancient  poet;'  monstrous  lies 
Nc"cr  i-e-cn  or  now  or  then  by  human  eyes," 

sings  Ovid.  '"    His  only  faith  in  the  legends  was  that  which  he 
had  in  anv  otlier  work  of  art. 

6.  The  ritual  method.  Many  nnths  (but  assuredly  not  all) 
can  be  classitied  as  explanations  of  rituals  whose  original  sig- 
nificance has  been  lost  in  the  past.  To  this  class  belong  the 
majority  of  the  aetiological  tales. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  NHTHS     lix 

7.  The  anthropological  or  comparitive  method.  This  method 
is  based  on  the  hypothesis  that  pies  at  the  same  levels  of 
primitive  developmc-nt  invent  the  ■  l-  kind  of  stories.  It  leads 
the  investigator,  "when  an  apparc  .■  irrational  and  anomalous 
custom  is  found  in  any  country  to  look  for  a  country  where 
a  similar  practice  is  found,  and  where  the  practice  is  no  longer 
irrational  and  anomalous,  but  in  harmony  with  the  manners 
and  ideas  of  the  people  among  whom  it  prevails."  "  The  re- 
sults of  this  theory  arc  often  invalidated  by  the  tacit  assump- 
tion that  its  basic  hypothesis  is  a  fact.  To  be  of  service  the 
method  must  be  historical. 

//.  The  Object  and  the  Method  of  the  Present  Treatise.— The 
author's  purpose  in  writing  this  volume  is  to  present  the  myths 
of  Greece  and  Rome  as  vehicles  of  religious  thought.  He  for- 
bears to  call  them  records  (though  after  a  manner  they  are 
such),  lest  any  reader  be  misled  into  believing  that  they  bear 
the  stamp  of  the  deliberation  and  the  finality  which  are  gen- 
erally ascribed  to  records.  That  they  enable  us  to  view  only 
a  part  of  the  faiths  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  as  from  a  single 
angle,  is  not  merely  admitted  but  insisted  upon  as  fundamental 
to  their  interpretation.  Inasmuch  as  art  is  psychologically 
posterior  to  religion,  just  as,  economically,  luxur>'  is  to  wealth, 
the  artistic  worth  and  influence  of  the  myths  are  here  to  be 
regarded  as  of  secondary  interest. 

The  system  of  interpretation  to  be  followed  is  at  base  the 
comparative  method.  The  entire  stress,  however,  \\\\\  not  be 
laid  upon  the  similarities  of  parallel  instances;  much  emphasis 
will  be  placed  upon  differences.  Moreover,  the  method  will 
not  be  applied  except  to  verify  traces  in  the  myths  of  their 
origin  and  meaning,  or  when  all  efforts  to  discover  such  signs 
have  failed.  In  handling  the  legends  singly  the  following  fea- 
tures will  be  noted:  the  peculiar  cast  of  the  conception,  the 
names  and  epithets  of  the  gods  and  heroes  and  the  several 
forms  of  their  symbols,  the  variant  versions  of  the  myth,  and 
the  traditional  interpretation  of  antiquity;  but  the  utmost 


m 


Ix       INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  M^THS 

caution  will  be  taken  to  avoid  basing  a  conclusion  on  any  one 
of  these  features  in  isolation  from  the  others.  Finally,  it  will 
constantly  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  myth  is,  after  all,  a  process 
and  not  a  finished  product. 

12.  The  Sources  nf  Mxth.  -  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there 
is  no  single  work  cfmtaining  without  comment  a  detailed  com- 
pilation of  the  literary  sources  from  which  we  draw  our  knowl- 
edge of  (;reek  and  Roman  myths.  The  value  of  such  a  work 
to  a  student  of  religi-^i  and  of  literature  and  the  advantage  of 
being  able  to  refer  to  it  on  the  present  occasion  are  obvious. 
So  widelv  scattered,  both  am<nig  authors  and  in  individual 
works,  are  the  allusions  to  myths  that  we  can  here  do  no  more 
than  name  the  few  outstanding  classic  writers  to  whom  we 
are  most  indebted  and  the  general  departments  of  literature 
from  which  myths  are  most  likely  to  be  recovered. 

SOURCES  FOR  THE  CREEK  MYTHS 

Portry:  Homer,  and  the  so-called  Ilovirric  Hymns  to  the 
gods;  the  fraiiments  and  summaries  of  the  heroic  epics  —  the 
Kypria,  the  \^ithwpis,  the  LittU  Iliad,  the  Xostoi,  the  Td.- 
gnnia:  Hesiod;  the  lyric  poets,  especially  Pindar;  the  extant 
plus  and  fragments  of  the  great  dramatists  of  Athens;  the 
b.K-olic  po.ts  Theokritos.  Bion.  and  Moschos:  the  fragments  of 
the  .Una  ("Causes")  of  Kallimachos;  ApoUonios  of  Rhodes; 
Quinto^  of  Smyrna;  Nonno^  and  Mou-aio^. 

\luih  information  concerning  Cre.k  myths  is  given  us  by 
c.  ,t.,in  Roman  poe-.  notably  tl.e  elegi,>ts  Catullus,  Propertius, 
:,nd  Tibull  is;  \ergil;  Ovid;  Horace:  \  aUrius  Flaccus;  Seneca; 
Sfatiu-;  Ausonius;  and  Claudian. 

/V-,  ,;  Herodoto>;  fragment^  of  the  jogographers  and  his- 
1  rian-  Plato;  Apollod.m.s  and  the  other  mythographers; 
]'.,.  mias;  Lucian;  the  Christian  apologists;  the  scholia  (in- 
terpretative marginal  notes)  of  Homer  and  the  dramatists;  the 
lexicographers.   The  Latin  works  attributed,  probably  wrongly, 


IC 


PLATK   VI 


SiLENOl    AND    MaRNADS 

Two  nude  and  bearded  Silenoi  with  horses'  tails  are 
each  carrying  a  Maenad  on  their  shoulders.  One 
Maenad  holds  in  her  lap  the  fawn  which  is  to  be  torn 
asunder  in  the  ritual,  while  the  other  is  beating  a  pair 
of  rattles.  The  heads  of  both  women  are  bound  with 
garlands  of  ivy-leaves,  which,  together  with  the  long 
sinuous  stem  dividing  the  two  groups  of  figures,  are 
among  the  emblems  of  Dionysos.  From  a  black- 
tigured  amphora  of  about  475  B.C.,  found  at  Gela 
{Monumenti  Jntuhi,  xvii,  Plate  XXXVII).  See  pp. 
267-70. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  M\THS     Ixi 

to  Hyginus,  may  be  included  here,  as  well  as  the  mythological 
treatises  of  Fulgcntius  and  of  the  Vatican  Mythographcr. 


SOURCES  FOR  THE  ROMAN  MITHS 

The  existing  sources  of  the  Roman  myths  are  of  the  same 
meagre  proportions  as  the  bulk  of  the  legends  themselves. 
The  most  important  arc  Vergil;  Livy;  Dionysios  of  Halikar- 
nassos  in  his  History  cf  Early  Rome;  Ovid;  Varro;the  antiqua- 
rian Verrius  Flaccus;  and  Saint  Augustine. 

In  the  field  of  art  outside  of  literature  we  can  sometimes  find 
new  versions  of  mythic  tales  and  can  very  often  see  the  old 
forms  from  fresh  points  of  view.    It  is  the  vase-paintings  and 
sculpture  which  yield  the  most  substantial  results.   The  arti- 
sans who  executed  the  former  belonged  to  the  ranks  of  the 
common  people;  consequently  we  may  infer  that  those  mytho- 
logical  themes  which   they  pictured   represent  versions   cur- 
rent in  their  own  stratum  of  society  and  perhaps  detached 
from  literary  traditions.     For  about  two  centuries,  beginning 
approximately  700  B.C.,  it  was  the  common  practice  to  use  such 
themes  and  to  identify  the  personages  portrayed  by  means  of 
symbols  or  inscribed  names.  Through  the  combined  effect  of  a 
number  of  hampering  conditions  —  the  limited  space  avail- 
able for  the  picture  on  the  vases,  the  artist's  undeveloped  skill, 
and  the  religious  conceptions  of  his  times  and  of  his  social 
class  —  it  was  impossible   for  the   painter  to   impart   to  his 
figures  the  finer  lineaments  of  individuality  and  character. 

Sculptures  in  relief,  especially  those  belonging  to  temple 
friezes,  are  more  useful  to  us  as  sources  of  the  details  of  myth 
than  as  interpretations,  for  a  tendency  to  allegorize  their 
themes  obscures  their  primary,  and  even  their  contemporary, 
significance.  It  is  to  sculpture  in  the  round  that  we  must  turn 
for  the  noblest  and  strongest  interpretations  of  the  god  of 
myth  and  worship.  The  temple  statue  tells  no  story;  that  is 
not  its  function.    On  the  contrar>-,  it  stands  as  a  summary, 


Ixii     INTRODLCTION  TO  THE  GREF.K   MYTHS 


su 


blimatcd  to  an  ideal  bv  the  alchemy  of  the  artist's  penius,  of 


all  tht 


•ib 


i  accorded  the  pod  in  the  thouglit  of  the 
majority  of  his  worshippers.    The  trained  and  discerning  eye 
can  read  the  individual  attributes  in  the  summary.    As  com- 
pared with  the  temple  image,  the  decorative  statue  does  tell 
a  stor\-.    The  very  purpose  for  which  it  is  designed  gives  the 
artist  an  opportunity  of  choosing  a  situation,  to  use  a  term  of 
dramatic  criticism,  in  which  to  set  his  god;  and  situation  im- 
plies narrative.    Moreover,  the  sculptor  has  much  more  free- 
dom in  making  his  selection  of  attributes.   The  other  forms  of 
art  to  which  the  student  of  myth  may  refer  are  the  wall-paint- 
ings of  Pompeii,  coins,  metal-work,  and  cut  gems.   The  wall- 
paintings  generally  deal  with  myths  which  arc  already  known 
through  literature;  they  are  useful  mainly  as  illustrations  and 
verifications.    Coin  types  not  infrequently  portray  the  leading 
cult  statues  of  the  state  issuing  the  coin;  like  their  models, 
then,  they  tell  no  story.   The  mythological  scenes  represented 
in  relief  or  by  means  of  incised  lines  on  mirrors,  bowls,  and 
other  objects  of  domestic  use  rank  as  sources  in  substantially 
the  same  class  as  the  earlier  vase-paintings.    From  cut  gems 
we  learn  relatively  little. 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN 
MYTHOLOGY 

PART  I 

MYTHS   OF   THE   BEGINNING,  THE  HEROES, 
AND   THE   AFTERWORLD 


iTirav  he  ih-u  hast  foll.'wM 
Throuph  the  i^lan.U  some  divuic  bard, 
Uy  a^-c  tauL'lil  many  thliiK'S 
A-c  and  the  NUi^t"*; 
Aiul  hi-ard  him  dcliuhtim,' 
The  chiefs  mid  [^voylc 

In  the  banquet,  and  Icarn'd  h.s  s.mil'S, 

Of  (iods  and  Hcn.cs, 

Of  war  and  arts, 

And  pcoj^Ud  cities, 

Inland,  or  built 

Bvthcfrrcy  sca.-If  so,  thenhail. 

1  honour  and  \\clo  itic  thee. 

MA-rrHEvv  Akn.......  Th,  Strayed  RnrlUr. 


MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  i.i.rt  60  TfST   CHART  No     2 


1.0    f^ 


I.I 


ii^ill     12.5 


liM 


[12.2 
2.0 

1.8 


'•25   111  1.4     i  1.6 


^     APPLIED  IK/MGE     Inc 


PLATE   VII 

Hera 

The  regal  decoration  of  the  diadem,  the  fine  and 
noble  features,  and  the  matronly  bearing  of  the  head, 
are  convincing  proofs  that  this  is  a  portrait  of  the 
queen  of  Olympos  and  the  divine  patroness  of  wed- 
lock. There  does  not  exist  in  sculpture  or  in  painting 
a  revelation  of  her  character  superior  to  this.  From 
an  original  marble,  probably  of  the  late  fifth  century 
B.C.,  in  the  Uffizi,  Florence  (Brunn-Bruckmann, 
DenkmaUr  grieihischer  und  romischer  Sculptur,  No. 
547).     See  pp.  7ff.,  i63ff. 


"  :?i 


GREEK   AND    ROMAN 
MYTHOLOGY 


CHAPTER  I 
MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING 

THE  early  Greek  looked  out  upon  the  world  of  men  and 
things  and  asked  himself  the  far  from  simple  question, 
How  and  by  whom  was  this  great  complex  created?  In  an- 
swering the  question  he  was  bound,  of  course,  to  remain 
within  the  limits  of  his  own  personal  experience  —  to  explain 
the  unknown  in  terms  of  the  known  or  of  what  seemed  to  be 
known.  Lacking  the  classified  data  of  our  modern  sciences  of 
geology,  astronomy,  and  biology,  he  was  as  incapable  of  form- 
ing even  a  vague  idea  of  the  structure  of  the  universe  as  he 
was  of  measuring  the  distance  between  the  sun  and  the  moon. 
Yet  he  possessed  certain  fundamental  facts,  and  these  com- 
posed his  meagre  body  of  science.  Moreover,  observation  had 
taught  him  that  the  world  was  the  theatre  of  the  ceaseless 
operation  of  unseen  po^vers  that  were  certainly  superior  to 
man.  Following  his  instincts,  he  personified  these  powers, 
called  them  gods,  and  did  them  worship;  this  constituted  his 
religion.  Since  among  most  primitive  peoples  science  and  re- 
ligion tend  to  be  inextricably  interwoven  with  each  other, 
it  was  inevitable  that  the  Greek  should  draw  on  these  two 
sources  of  his  funded  experience  in  answering  his  question  as 
to  the  beginning  of  things. 

Broadly  speaking,  the  fundamental  facts  known  to  the  Greek 
arc  as  follows.     In   all  departments  of   her   activity  Nature 
steadily  proceeds  from  disorder  toward  order.  The  great  move- 
ments generally  take  place  in  regular  cycles,  such  as  days, 
>  — s 


4  GREEK  AND  ROMAN'  MYTHOLOGY 

months,  seasons,  and  years;  while  the  unforeseen  and  calami- 
tous phenomena,  like  volcanic  eruptions,  whirlwind,  and  flood, 
are  really  less  frequent  and  less  potent  than  the  normal  oper- 
ations.   Like  tends  to  beget  like;  life  arises  only  from  life. 
The  great  tree  comes  from  a  small  seed,  the  bird  from  a  fragile 
egg,  and  man  grows  to  maturity  from  a  helpless  infant.   What 
could  be  more  natural  for  the  Greek  than  to  conclude,  as  he 
did,  that  the  world  and  the  races  of  men  and  of  gods  came  into 
being  in  the  same  way?  Once  he  could  account  for  their  crea- 
tion, he  could  easily  explain  their  subsequent  growth  and  de- 
velopment through  the  ordinary  visible  processes  of  nature. 
For  the  supremacy  of  gods  and  men  with  their  ideas  of  order 
and  justice  he  could  find  an  obvious  reason  in  the  superiority 
of  the  great  regular  forces  over  the  irregular.   In  this  method  of 
thought  he  was  unwittingly  paying  a  great  tribute  to  himself. 
The  lower  savage  accredits  some  animal  with  the  creation  of 
the  world;  the  more  advanced  savage  might  go  as  high  in  the 
scale  as  man  himself  in  his  search  for  the  first  maker;  but  to 
be  able  to  point  with  conviction  to  personal  creative  forces 
immeasurably  beyond  man  demands  an  extraordinary  degree 
of  intellectual  advancement. 

The  Creation  of  the  World.  —  Among  the  Greeks  there  was 
no  single  generally  accepted  account  of  the  Creation,  for  the 
people  were  divided  as  to  which  of  the  several  records  was  the 
most  ancient  and  therefore  likely  to  be  the  most  authoritative. 
The  view  that  prevailed  in  Athens  during  the  fifth  and  fourth 
cen curies  B.C.  was  that  the  oldest  was  contained  in  a  poem 
which  passed  as  the  composition  of  the  inspired  Orpheus.  The 
many  other  so-called  Orphic  poems  current  at  the  time  were 
frankly  counted  as  forgeries,  but,  nevertheless,  were  believed 
to  contain  the  same  tradition  of  the  Beginning  as  that  found  in 

the  Iliad.  ,       ^^ 

According  to  the  Orphic  story,  uncreated  Nyx  ("Night  ) 
existed  first,  and  was  regarded  as  a  great  black-winged  bird 
hovering  over  a  vast  darkness  "without  form  and  void." 


MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING  5 

Though  unmated,  she  laid  an  egg  whence  golden-winged  Eros 
("Love")  flew  forth,  while  from  the  two  parts  of  the  shell  Oura- 
nos  and  Gaia  ("Heaven"  and  "Earth")  were  created.  They 
became  the  first  pair  of  parents  and  brought  into  the  world 
Okeanos  ("Ocean")  and  Tethys("  Nurse").  These  in  their  turn 
became  a  parental  pair,  begetting  Kronos,  Rhea,  Phorkys,  and 
the  other  Titans;  and,  similarly,  Kronos  and  Rhea  were  united 
and  begat  Zeus  and  Hera.  Now  Kronos  was  warned  that  his 
reign  would  cease  when  Hera  should  bear  a  son  to  Zeus.  To 
forestall  such  an  evil  he  sought  to  kill  her,  but  she  was  saved 
by  her  mother,  who  secretly  brought  her  to  the  realm  of 
Okeanos  and  Tethys,  where,  unknown  to  her  father,  she  was 
wedded  to  Zeus.  The  Moirai  ("Fates")  led  the  bride  to  her 
husband,  and  Eros  drew  the  bridal  car,  while  in  honour  of  the 
nuptials  Gaia  gave  Okeanos  permission  to  fashion  the  beau- 
tiful gardens  of  the  Hesperides.  The  Orphic  poet  held  this 
union  of  Zeus  and  Hera  before  the  Greeks  as  the  model  of  con- 
jugal relations. 

The  Hesiodic  story  is  diflFerent  in  many  points  and  is  much 
less  satisfactory  as  a  philosophical  explanation  of  beginnings. 
First  there  was  Chaos, 

"...  the  vast  immeasurable  abyss, 
Outrageous  as  a  sea,  dark,  wasteful,  wild."  * 

Then  came  Gaia,  gloomy  Tartaros  (the  dark  "Underworld"), 
and  Eros  as  the  moving  force  within  and  about  all  things. 
Chaos  brought  into  being  Erebos  ("Lower  Darkness")  and 
Nyx,  and  these  in  their  turn  begat  Aither  ("Heavenly  Light") 
and  Hemera  ("Earthly  Light,"  i.  e.  "Day").  Mother  Earth 
bore  Ouranos  (star-sown  "Heaven")  to  be  a  helpmeet  to  herself 
and  at  the  same  time  a  secure  dwelling-place  for  the  blessed 
gods.  Now  appeared  the  rugged  mountains  and  the  wild 
stretches  of  the  sea.  In  their  relation  of  husband  and  wife 
Ouranos  and  Gaia  became  the  founders  of  what  one  might  call 
the  first  royal  house  of  the  gods. 


6  GREEK  AND  RO\L\N  M^THOLOCn' 

Thf  Regime  of  Ouranos.  -  The  children  of  Ouranos  and  Gaia 
were  many.    First,  there  were  born  the  Titans,'  such  as  Okeanos, 
Krios,  Hyperion,   lapetos,  Themis   ("Justice"),  Mnemosyne 
("Memory"),  and,  last  of  all,  Kronos.    Besides  these  there 
were  the  Kyklopes,  "the  powers  of  the  ^ir"-Brontes  ("Thun- 
der-Roar"),  Steropes  ("Lightning"),  Arges  ("Thunderbolt  ) 
-each   of  ^•hom   had  one  huge  eye   in  the   middle  of  his 
forehead.     In   addition   to  these   monsters   were   the  giants 
Kottos,  Briareos,  and  Gyes,  each  with  fifty  heads  and  a  hun- 
dred hands  springing  from  his  shoulders.  So  terrible  were  they 
that  Ouranos,  their  father,  was  afraid  of  them  and  thrust  them 
back  into  the  bosom  whence  they  had  come.     At  this  Gaia 
was  sorely  ofTended,  and  calling  her  children  together  she  laid 
before  them  a  plan  of  putting  an  end  to  the  violence  of  their 
sire    Only  Kronos  was  fearless  enough  to  carry  it  out.    W  ith 
a  si'ckle  given  him  by  Gaia  he  attacked  his  father  and  terribly 
mutilated  him,  but  Gaia  caught  the  blood  from  the  wound, 
and  from  it  in  the  process  of  time  were  born  the  Erinyes 
("Furies"),  the  armed  Giants,  and  the  Melian  Nymphs,  while 
the  contact  of  the  severed  flesh  with  the  sea  produced  Aphro- 
dite, the  goddess  of  love.  With  this  attack  the  rule  of  Ouranos 

came  to  an  end.  .u   „„J 

The  Regime  of  Kronos. -By  virtue  of  his  strength  and 
boldness  Kronos  assumed  the  kingship  over  the  gods,  whose 
number  was  now  large,  for  during  the  rule  of  Ouranos,  Nyx, 
Pontos  (barren  "Sea"),  and  the  elder  Titans  had  begotten 
many  children,  among  these  being  Thanatos  ("Death   ),  his 
brother   Hypnos    ("Sleep"),   "the   whole   tribe  of   dreams. 
Nemesis,  Friendship,  Old  Age,  and  Strife,  who  herself  had 
brought  forth  "wars  and  rumours  of  war."   Following  the  ex- 
ample of  Gaia  in  wedding  Ouranos,  Rhea  became  the  sister- 
spouse  of  Kronos,  and  the  fruits  of  their  wedlock  were  Hera 
A-ides  ("Hades"),  Poseidon,  and  Zeus,  ^'the  sire  of  gods  and 
men  "   Kronos,  remembering  how  he  had  displaced  his  father, 
became  fearful  that  one  of  his  children  might  overthrow  him, 


MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING  7 

and,  accordingly,  as  soon  as  they  were  born  he  swallowed  them 
as  the  easiest  way  of  getting  rid  of  them.  Only  Zeus  escaped, 
and  that  because  Rhea  contrived  and  executed  a  plan  that 
he  should  be  born  in  Crete  and  hidden  in  a  cave  on  Mount 


Fig.  I.    Poseidon 

Poseidon  holding  a  dolphin  in  his  right  hand  to  indicate  that  the  »ea  is  his  abode, 
and  in  his  left  hand  a  trident  (originally  a  lightningbolt,  but  here  a  fish-spear)  as  a 
svmbol  of  his  sovereignty  over  the  deep.  From  a  red-figured  Ukytkos  of  the  fifth 
century  B.C.,  found  at  Gela,  Sicily  {Monumenti  Jnticht,  xvu,  Plate  XV). 

Aigaion.  Instead  of  a  child  she  gave  Kronos  a  stone  which  he 
swallowed  in  ignorance  of  the  deception,  whereupon  Gaia 
caused  him  to  disgorge  what  he  had  eaten  and,  naturally,  the 
stone  came  first  and  the  children  last.  On  reaching  manhood 
Zeus  emerged  from  his  hiding-place  and  after  putting  an  end 


8  GREF.K   AND    ROMAN    MVTHOIXK.V 

to  the  unjust  rule  cf  his  father  he  vvedJed  Hera  and  hhnsclf 
tor.k  the  throne.  Afterward  lie  deposited  the  stone  in  Delphoi. 
Centuries  later  a  certain  meteor  worshipped  in  Roman  Africa 
was  identified  by  mythologists  as  this  same  stone.' 

r.stablishmnit  nf  thr   Rri^ime  of  Zeus;  llu   Titans. —  M:iny 
children  were  born  to  Zeus  and  Hera,  and  they  were  the  first 
to  be  prr.perly  called  gods.     They  established  themselves  on 
Mount  Olvmpos,  which  stood  directly  opposite  Mount  Othr>'s, 
the  seat  of  the  Titans,  who,  being  the  older  race  (with  the 
exception   of   Mnemosyne,  Themis,   and  Prometheus),  quite 
naturallv  regarded  Zeus  and  his  family  as  upstarts  and  usurp- 
ers.   Bitter  rivalry  and  strife  arose  between  the  two  settle- 
ments, and  for  ten  years  ihey  fought  with  no  decisive  results. 
A  peace-parley  held  at  the  end  of  this  period  seemed  only  to 
add  heat  to  the  conflict,  so  that  at  length  Zeus  freed  the  three 
hundred-handed  Giants  whom  Kronos  had  left  bound  deep 
down  within  the  earth,  and  enlisted  them  in  his  ranks, deciding 
now  to  reveal  his  full  strength  and  to  bring  the  tedious  strife 
to  a  sudden  end.    With  their  many  hands  the  Giants  hurled 
huge  rocks  at  the  foe  until  the  sky  was  darkened,  while  Zeus 
cast  thunderbolt  after  thunderbolt  with  their  long  tongues  of 

flame: 

"...  dire  was  the  noise 
Of  conflict;  overhead  the  dismal  hiss 
Of  fiery  darts  in  flaming  volleys  flew, 
And,  flying,  vaulted  either  host  with  fire."' 

By  this  deadly  assault  the  Titans  were  overwhelmed  and  driven 
into  the  depths  of  the  earth.  Down,  down  they  went,  a 
journey  of  nine  days  and  nine  nights,  until  they  were  as  far 
from  the  plains  of  earth  as  the  plains  of  earth  are  beneath 
the  heaven.  There  a  brazen  wall  with  brazen  gates  was  built 
about  them,  and  the  three  Giants  were  placed  on  guard  to 
prevent  them  from  escaping. 

Typhon  {or  Typhoeus);  the  Giants.  — The  sway  of  Zeus  was 
not  yet  secure,  for  Gaia  had  borne  to  Tartaros  a  monstrous  son 


PLATK    VI II 

CJolJS    AND    ClIANTS 

1 .  Ge  ri»M  from  the  earth  as  if  to  implore  Poteidon 
to  stay  his.  hand  as  he  thrusts  hit  trident  into  the  breast 
of  her  son,  Poiybotes. 

2.  In  the  centre  of  the  picture  Apollo,  grasping  hi* 
unstrung  bow  in  his  left  hand,  with  his  right  hand 
drives  his  sword  at  Ephialtcs,  who  defends  himself 
with  a  spear.  At  the  left,  the  armed  Ares  is  pressing 
a  spcar-hcad  into  the  breast  of  the  falling  Mimon, 
while  at  the  right  Hera  endeavours  to  transfix  Phoitos, 
who,  though  iottering  backward,  boldly  continues 
fighting. 

3.  In  the  outer  group  at  the  right  Athene  is  de- 
picted trying  to  turn  Enkelados  to  stone  by  holding  be- 
fore him  the  gorgoneion  of  her  aegis,  while  at  the  same 
time  she  aims  a  lance  at  his  breast.  In  the  opposite 
group,  Artemis  appears  in  the  act  of  burning  Ciaion 
with  blaz-ing  torches,  and  in  the  centre,  Zeus,  marked 
bv  his  sceptre,  and  Porphyrion  arc  engaged  in  mutual 
combat,  the  one  hurling  a  thunderbolt  and  the  other 
a  stone.  From  a  red-figured  kylix  of  the  early  fifth 
century  B.C.,  in  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Hoston 
i  Furtwangler-Reichhold,  Grtahische  VastnmaUrti^  No. 
I/7).     See  pp.  8-9. 


^Il 


i  ! 


-i**. 


1 


a 


MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


named  Typhon,  the  daemon  of  the  whirlwind.  Upon  his  shoul- 
ders h"  carried  a  hundred  serpent-heads;  his  voice  was  like 
those  of  all  formidable  beasts  in  one;  from  his  eyes  there  flashed 
out  fire.  In  his  might  he  assailed  Zeus,  and  would  have  wrested 
the  sovereignty  from  him  had  not  the  lord  of  the  gods  leaped 
down  from  on  high  and  felled  the  monster  with  a  thunderbolt. 
Upon  Typhon  Mount  Aetna  was  set,  and  from  its  peak  the 
smoke  and  fire  of  his  laboured  breathing  rise  to  this  very  day. 
Even  yet  the  lordship  of  Zeus  was  challenged,  this  time  by 
the  Giants  who  had  been  born  of  Gaia  by  the  blood  of  Ouranos, 
and  whom  some  believed  to  be  the  forefathers  of  the  human 
race.  Among  these  mighty  beings  were  Enkelados,  Hyperbios, 
Ephialtes,  and  Polybotes.   They  were  a  haughty  and  warlike 
folk,  and  under  their  king,  Eurymedon,  they  lived,  some  said, 
in  the  island  of  Kerkyra  (Corfu),  or  as  others  preferred,  in 
Spain  or  even  in  Chalkidike.   For  their  insolence  and  hostility 
the  gods,  led  by  Zeus  and  Athene,  overthrew  them;  in  punish- 
ment volcanoes  were  piled  on  their  prostrate  bodies,  and  their 
groans  and  convulsions  of  pain  can  be  perceived  even  today. 

This  myth  is  a  restatement  or  a  poetic  imitation  of  the  battle 
of  the  Titans,  but  it  contains  several  features  just  as  old  as  the 
body  of  the  other  story.  It  was  a  very  popular  theme  in  poetry 
and  art  throughout  the  Hellenic  world.  We  find  it  employed 
in  a  vase-painting  which  dates  at  least  as  early  as  the  sixth 
century  B.C.,  in  the  eastern  metopes  of  the  Parthenon,  and  in 
the  frieze  of  the  great  altar  of  Zeus  at  Pergamon. 

Although  the  elements  of  these  stories  of  the  beginnings  of 
things  are  varied  and  confused,  their  central  meaning  is  clear. 
They  reveal  the  belief  of  the  early  Greeks  that  their  established 
social  order  never  could  have  existed  had  not  the  cosmic  forces 
previously  been  reduced  to  order  by  some  power  or  powers. 
Moreover,  they  may  be  regarded  as  a  gauge  of  the  growing 
Hellenic  faculty  which  apprehended  these  potencies  at  first 
as  few  and  mutually  overlapping  in  function,  and  later  as 
many  and  distinct  from  one  another.    In  the  ascendancy  of 


'  '.iltr* 


,o  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

Kronos  over  Ouranos  and  of  Zeus  over  Kronos  we  see  an  in- 
creasing  appreciation  of  the  worth  of  intellect  over  mere  brute 
strength  and  cunning.  In  short,  the  whole  fabric  of  the  stones 
sets  forth  in  pattern  the  conviction  that  the  world  moves 
steadily  toward  better  things.  ,      „  . 

The  Creation  of  Man. -The  Greeks,  unlike  the  Hebrews 
and  their  religious  successors,  had  no  one  orthodox  account  of 
the  creation  of  man.    On  the  contrary,  there  ^vere  a  most  as 
manv  traditions  as  there  were  city-states,  and  the  multiphcity 
of  b^th  was  due  to  the  same  cause,  the  isolating  character  o 
the  Greek  highlands.   What  more  natural  for  the  Greek  local 
patriot  than  to  believe  that  the  first  man  was  created  in  his 
own  community?    When  one  understands  the   spirit  of  the 
divisions  in  Greece,  he  cannot  wonder  that  the  attempts  of 
Hesiod  and  the  earlier  logographers  to  construct  a  harmony 
of  the  conflicting  local  myths  never  proved  to  be  eminently 
successful.    In  the  legends  that  we  are  about  to  examine  each 
act  of  the  creation  of  man  follows  one  of  three  processes :  the 
man  simply  originates  out  of  the  elemental  powers  or  objects 
of  the  earth;  or  he  is  begotten  by  one  of  the  Olympians;  or  he 
is  moulded  out  of  lifeless  matter  by  the  hand  of  some  divine 
or  semi-divine  artisan. 

The  first  process  is  not  as  strange  as  it  appears  to  be  at  first 
glance,  for  it  is  very  easy  to  infer  that  that  power  which  can 
produce  the  crops  of  the  field  and  the  mysterious  second-growth 
of  timber  on  the  burnt  lands,  and  can  make  sudden  revelations 
of  life  in  the  wilderness,  can  also  produce  man.  The  Athenians 
believed  that  the  first  man  was  Kckrops,  who  sprang  to  life 
from  the  soil  of  Athens.  Those  Boiotians  who  lived  near  Lake 
Kopais  held  that  the  first  man,  Alalkomeneus,  was  born  o   the 
waters  of  the  lake  after  the  manner  of  fish.   To  the  people  of 
Arkadia  the  first  man  was  their  own  earth-sprung  Pelasgos 
In  Thcban   story  men   germinated   from  the  dragons  teeth 
sown  broadcast  on  the  earth.   Aiakos,  the  king  of  Aigina   had 
a  country  without  a  people  until,  at  the  command  of  Zeus, 


MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


II 


the  ants  on  the  island  assumed  human  shape  and  became  his 
subjects.  Among  those  Hellenic  stocks  which  inhabited  dis- 
tricts of  hill  and  forest  the  prevailing  myths  derived  men  from 

rocks  and  trees.  ,      ,    ,         r 

Zeus  was  accredited  with  being  the  great  forefather  of  more 
families  and  stocks  than  was  any  other  Olympian,  and  his  title, 
"Father  of  gods  and  men,"  was  therefore  no  idle  appellation. 
He  begat  Hellen  through  his  union  with  Pyrrha  ("Ruddy 
Earth"),  who  was  thus  made  the  foremother  of  the  HelL-nes; 
by  Dia  ("Divine  Earth"),  he  became  the  father  of  Peirithobs; 
Aiakos  was  his  son  by  Aigina,  the  nymph  of  the  island  of  the 
same  name;  Lakedaimon,  the  ancestor  of  the  Lakedaimonians, 
was  borne  to  him  by  Taygete,  the  nymph  of  the  mountain  of 
that  region;  Perseus  was  the  issue  of  his  approach  to  Danae  in 
the  form  of  a  shower  of  gold;  and  nearly  all  kings  proudly  traced 
their  descent  to  Zeus.    Yet  the  other  gods  were  not  wholly 
without  such  honours.    Poseidon  was  represented  as  the  great 
ancestor  of  the  Aiolic  stock,  and  Kronos  became  the  father  of 
Cheiron  through  his  amour  with  Philyra  ("Linden-Tree  ). 
One  meets  but  rarely  with  myths  which  attribute  the  origin 
of  a  race  to  the  union  of  a  goddess  with  a  mortal  man. 

It  is  rather  surprising  that  in  most  of  their  cosmogonic  myths 
the  Greeks  succeeded  merely  in  setting  forth  a  plausible  se- 
quence of  events,  but  failed  to  make  really  serious  attempts 
at  a  real  solution  of  the  causes.  The  stories  which  we  have 
just  noted  were  not  such  as  to  satisfy  a  truly  inquisitive  mind. 
The  Greeks  themselves  early  came  to  a  realization  of  this,  and 
the  simple  conception  rapidly  gained  ground  that  the  first 
human  being  must  have  been,  so  to  speak,  a  manufactured 
product.    The  maker  (or  makers,  according  to  the  variations  of 
the  story)  was  a  god  who  formed  man  by  a  definite  act  of  will, 
by  means  of  a  well-known  process,  and  out  of  some  tangible 
material.  The  method  which  is  generally  detailed  is  the  very 
old  and  simple  one  of  moulding  the  figure  out  of  the  dust  of 
the  earth,  a  concept  which  appeals  to  the  imagination  of  the 


12  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

modern  as  well  as  of  the  ancient.  In  the  myths  of  Prometheus 
and  of  Pandora  we  shall  see  it  most  attractively  brought  out. 
Prometheus.  —  "Prometheus  is  .  .  .  the  type  of  the  highest 
perfection  of  moral  and  intellectual  nature,  impelled  by  the 
purest  and  the  truest  motives,  to  the  best  and  noblest  ends." 
These  words  of  the  poet   Shelley  ^  give   us   a  clear  view  of 
Prometheus  in  his  relation  to  the  thought  and  religion  of  the 
Greeks.  He  was  a  paradoxical  character.   In  his  one  person  he 
was  both  less  than  god  and  "more  than  god,  being  wise  and 
kind."«    His  figure  was  clear  where  it  represented  the  moral 
aspirations  of  the  Hellenes,  obscure  where  it  touched  their 
formal  religion;  it  had  just  those  lines  which  their  imagmation 
could  not  resist  and  which  made  it  an  inexhaustible  literary 

theme.  u      u 

Prometheus  ("Forethinker")  was  generally  held  to  be  the 
son  of  the  Titan  lapetos  and  Gaia  (or  Themis),  and  was 
the  brother  of  Atlas  and  Epimetheus  ("Afterthinker").  The 
legends  are  by  no  means  in  agreement  as  to  the  name  of  his 
wife,  who  is  variously  called  Kelaino,  Pandora,  Pyrrha,  Asia, 
and  Hesione.  all  of  which,  it  is  worth  noting,  are  epithets  of 
the  Farth  Goddess.  His  marriage  was  fruitful,  and  among  his 
children  were  sometimes  counted  Deukalion,  Chimaireus,  Ait- 
naios,  lo,  and  Thcbe.  In  many  of  the  myths  Prometheus  and 
Hcph'aistos  are  curiously  allied  in  their  relations  to  human 

culture. 

Although  a  Titan,  Prometheus  had  espoused  the  cause  ot 
Zeus,  thus  manifesting  his  native  sympathy  for  law  and  order; 
but  as  he  was  essentially  a  nobler  type  than  Zeus  himself, 
he  could  not  long  maintain  the  allegiance.  When  the  chief 
Olvmpian  found  mankind  hopelessly  faulty  and  planned  to 
create  a  new  race  in  its  place,  Prometheus  broke  with  him  and 
defiantly  became  sponsor  of  the  human  cause.  This  generous 
devotion  is  the  source  of  his  power  in  myth. 

In  Hesiod's   Theogony  the  story  runs  that  a  conference  of 
gods  and  men  was  held  at  Sikyon  to  determine  the  homage 


MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING  I3 

owed  by  men  to  the  gods.   Acting  as  priest,  Prometheus  sacri- 
ficed an  ox  and  divided  it  into  two  parts,  one  of  which  con- 
sisted of  flesh  and  other  edible  portions  enveloped  in  the 
skin  of  the  animal,  while  the  second  was  composed  of  bones 
and  r.trails  alluringly  garnished  with  stnps  of  nch  fat     It 
was  tt.e  .ope  of  Prometheus  that  Zeus  would  be  misled  by  ap- 
pearances  and  choose  the  poorer  part,  but  to  the  Olympian 
the  deceit  was  too  plain,  and,  in  order  that  he  might  have  an 
excuse  for  punishing  men,  he  deliberately  took  the  bones  and 
entrails,  and  withheld  the  gift  of  fire  from  men.   ^  -ed  with 
pity,   Prometheus   stole  some  embers   and  brought  them  to 
mankind  hidden  in  a  hollow  stalk.'   In  some  myths  it  is  said 
that  he  took  the  fire  from  the  very  hearth  of  Zeus;  in  others, 
from  the  workshop  of  Hephaistos  and  Athene  on  Lemnos;  m 
smothers,  from  the  fiery  chariot  of  the  sun.    Through  this 
sublime  theft  men  were  enabled  to  lift  the  ban  of  Zeus,  to  begin 
life  anew,  and  little  by  little  to  evolve  the  arts  and  crafts. 

But  Prometheus  paid  the  penalty  for  his  trespass  on  the 
divine  rights  of  Zeus  to  the  exclusive  control  of  fire.    Zeus  had 
him  chained  to  a  crag  (or  pillar)  in  the  range  of  Caucasus  and 
appointed  an  eagle  to  gnaw  at  his  vitals,  consuming  each  day 
what  had  been  restored  during  the  night  just  past.    Despite 
his  many  sufTerings  the  spirit  of  Prometheus  was  unquenched, 
for  he  was  comforted  with  the  foreknowledge  that  some  day 
he  would  be  released  and  that  Zeus  would  be  overthrown  even 
as  Ouranos  and  Kronos  had  fallen.    In  due  dme  his  shackles 
were  broken  by  Herakles  and  he  was  brought  back  to  Olympos 
to  serve  his  fellow-gods  with  his  gift  of  prophecy    In  one  odd 
version  of  the  story  the  rocks  sank  with  Prometheus  into  the 
gloomy  depths  of  Tartaros.  . 

The  notion  that  man  was  shaped  from  clay  was  relatively 
late.  By  the  fifth  century  b.c.  the  belief  in  this  process  was 
general,  and  by  the  fourth  it  was  the  rule  to  identify  Prometheus 
as  the  artist.  From  clay  he  fashioned  both  men  and  beasts 
and  into  them  passed  emanations  of  the  divine  fire  which 


,4  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

became  their  souls.  The  human-like  boulders  at  Panopeus  in 
Phokis  were  pointed  out  as  material  left  over  by  him  m  the 
process  of  making  men. 

The  myth  of  Prometheus  teaches  that  the  Greeks  regarded 
all  natural  fire  as  originally  divine,  that  it  was  at  once  the 
strongest  and  the  subtlest  of  the  forces  of  nature  and  the  most 
potent  factor  in  the  advance  of  humanity.  In  the  legend  can 
be  detected  a  plea  for  the  dignity  of  perseverance  and  toil  and 


Fig.  2.    Creation  of  Pandora 
Tn  the  centre  of  the  upper  band  the  newly-created  Pandora  stands  stiffly  like  a 
figure  of  wc^d  or  cbv    To'h^^r  right  appear  in  order  Athene  (who  holds  a  wreath  toward 
;    riWotzeus,  and  Iris,  ihile  to  her  left  are  ^''-n;^';;"-^^^-,;  ""^d 
and  Hera.   The  lower  band  represents  V°"'-%^f ""  f  f;,%  xi   pC  XI) 
hater  found  at  .Mtemira  and  now  in  the  British  Museum  (y//S  xi,  Plate  XI). 

the  promise  that  they  will  bring  their  own  reward  in  the  form 
of  increased  efficiency.  The  picture  of  the  noble  sufTermg  of 
Prometheus  is  testimony  that  very  eariy  the  Greeks  had  a  clear 
idea  of  self-sacrifice. 

Pandora.  —  By  accepting  the  stolen  fire  men  were  legally 
party  to  the  cflFnce,  and  to  punish  them  Zeus  condemned 
them  to  earn  their  daily  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow, 
besides  doing  them  irreparable  harm  by  bringing  evil  into  their 
lives.  At  his  bidding  Hephaistos  shaped  an  image  of  clay  and 
endowed  it  with  human  faculties.  In  appearance  the  figure  was 
like  one  of  the  Olympian  goddesses  -  a  beautiful  maiden  to 
whom  all  the  Olympians  contributed  of  their  several  qualities. 


PLATE    IX 

Athene  Farthenos 

This  statue  of  Athene,  the  maiden  protectress  of 
Athens,  is  one  of  a  number  of  copies  of  the  famous 
chryselephantine  image  made  by  Pheidias  for  the 
Parthenon,  and  many  of  its  peculiar  features  betray 
its  metallic  original.  In  her  right  hand  the  goddess 
holds  erect  z  long  lance  and  allows  her  left  hand  to 
rest  on  a  shield  standing  on  edge  at  her  side.  On  her 
head  is  a  helmet  on  the  top  of  which  sits  a  sphinx, 
and  over  her  shoulders  and  breast  hangs  the  aegis. 
Her  face  is  strong,  dignified,  just,  and  unemotional  — 
in  short,  suggests  all  those  ideal  traits  of  character 
which  the  noblest  myths  have  attributed  to  her. 
From  a  marble  of  the  age  of  Hadrian,  in  the  Prado, 
Madrid  (Brunn-Bruckmann,  Denkmaler  griechischer 
und  romischer  Sculptur,  No.  511).      Sec  pp.  169  ff. 


' 

na^. 

^> 

MM^A 

■Y^^^^&tt^ 

Ti 

T 

'-s"^:m#] 

y^. 

^'<^ 

•  *^^  ' 

m^m. 

^ 

■«»fc^" 

nii 


M\THS  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


15 


The  Graces  and  the  Hours  decked  her  out  in  charming  apparel 
and  bright  flowers  so  that  desire  awoke  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
and  as  the  gift  of  all  the  gods  to  the  human  race  she  was 
named  Pandora/    Hermes  brought  her  to  Epimethcus,  who  re- 
ceived her  in  spite  of  Prometheus's  warning  to  accept  notlung 
from  the  gods,  for,  unhappily,  it  was  the  nature  of  Epimethcus 
to  sec  no  evil  until  it  had  come  upon  him.  Pandora,  curious  to 
know  what  was  stored  in  a  large  jar  standing  near  her  (fancy 
is  free  to  conjecture  the  origin  of  the  vessel),  lifted  the  lid,  and 
before  she  could  replace  it  all  sorts  of  evils  and  diseases  flew 
out  and  covered  land  and  sea.  Only  Hope  was  left,  not  buoy- 
ant, reassuring  hope,  but  that  kind  which  is 

"...  to  much  mortal  woe 
So  sweet  that  none  may  turn  from  it  nor  go."  » 

Such,  in  the  main,  is  the  story  of  Hesiod.  In  the  late  poets  the 
jar  is  said  to  have  contained  every  good  as  well  as  every  evd; 
the  former  flew  away  and  were  lost,  while  the  latter  were  scat- 
tered among  men. 

The  substance  of  this  tale  and  that  of  the  phrase  cherchet 
lajemme  are  the  same  —  through  woman  came  and  still  comes 
evil  into  the  world.  While  the  advent  of  the  first  man  was  ex- 
plained in  many  ways,  the  first  woman  was  always  believed  to 
be  the  handiwork  of  the  gods. 

Origins  of  Certain  Animals  and  Plants.  — We  can  here  men- 
tion only  a  few  of  the  many  passages  in  the  myths  which  de- 
scribe the  metamorphoses  of  human  beings  into  animals  and 
plants.  When  Keyx,  a  son  of  Hesperos,  perished  by  shipwreck, 
his  broken-hearted  wife,  Alkyone,  threw  herself  into  the  sea  and 
was  drowned.  The  gods  changed  them  both  into  kingfishers, 
which  were  said  by  the  ancients  to  make  their  nests  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  sea  in  winter  during  a  short  period  of  calm  which 
sailors  called  the  alcyon  (or  halcyon)  days.  Asteria,  the  Titan's 
daughter  who  spurned  an  amour  with  Zeus,  was  transformed 
by  him  into  a  quail;  at  the  death  of  Meleagros  his  lamenting 


i 


m 


i 


,6    GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

sUuTH  were  changed  into  shrill-voiced  guinea-fowl;  in  the  Attic 
groiir  of  "^yth"  Tercus  became  the  hoopoe,  Philomele  the  night- 
in^-ale,  and  Pn.kne  the  swallow,  while  Nisos  of  Megara  was 
iransfornud  into  the  sea-eagle. 

Some  instances  are  recorded  in  which  human  beings  took 
the  forms  of  quadrupeds.  The  impious  Lykaon  became  a 
prowling  wolf,  Kallisto  i  bear,  and  Psamathe,  a  wife  of  A.akos, 

^  The  origins  of  certain  trees  were  sometimes  traced  back  to 
a  human  or  a  divine  personage.  For  instance,  when  Ph.lyra 
first  saw  her  monstrous  son,  the  Centaur  Cheiron,  she  was  so 
filled  with  horror  that  she  begged  to  be  given  a  new  form,  and 
Zeus  bestowed  upon  her  that  of  the  linden-tree.  In  pity  for  the 
innocently  incestuous  Smyrna,  Aphrodite  allowed  her  to  be- 
come  the  myrrh-tree  with  it.  swee'  aroma.  The  gricv.ng  s.,ters 
of  Phaethon  were  turned  into  tremulous  poplars,  and  Daphne, 
as  we  shall  see  later,  became  the  laurel.  ,     ^    ^      , 

Beginnings  of  Civilization.  -  By  means  of  myth  the  Greeks 
endeavoured  to  explain  the  origins  of  the  various  featuresof 
civilization  as  they  did  other  beginnings  equally  obscure.  The 
Argives  alleged  that  their  Phoroneus  was  the  first  to  teach  men 
to  abandon  a  solitary  manner  of  life  and  to  gather  together  mto 
communities.    It  was  he,  and  not  Prometheus,  accordmg  to 
their  patriotic  claim,  who  was  the  discoverer  of  fire.    Among 
the  Arkadians  Pelasgos  was  believed  to  have  been  the  first  to 
contrive  huts,  to  fashion  garments  from  the  skms  of  beasts, 
and  to  instruct  men  to  cease  eating  leaves  and  grass  like  the 
brutes  of  the  field  and  to  adopt  a  more  distinctively  human 
diet     From  Arkas,  the  Arkadians'  eponymous  ancestor,  men 
learned  how  to  make  bread,  spin  thread,  and  weave  garments. 
To  the  people  of  Eleusis  Triptolemos  was  the  pioneer  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  staple  grains,  while  the  reading  of  the  will  of 
the  gods  in  the  flight  of  birds  was  first  practised  by  Parnassos 
and  Deukalion  was  credited  with  having  been  the  founder  of 
religion. 


MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


»7 


The  Ages  of  the  World.  -  The  Greeks  and  Rom  .ns,  like  most 
other  peoples,  believed  that  the  world  had  pas  ,cd  through  a 
scries  of  ages,  althougli  the  several  theories  as  to  the  nature 
of  these  aeons  are  in  many  respects  discrepant.  The  cyclic 
theory,  the  theories  of  both  earlier  and  l.-ter  mystics,  and  the 
theories  of  the  Stoics  and  Cynics,  while  owing  much  of  their 
fabric  to  mythology,  belong  more  properly  to  philosophy,  and 
hence,  even  though  a  great  part  of  their  teaching  is  presented  m 
the  form  of  myth,  they  can  justly  be  ignored  in  this  account. 

Hcsiod  relates  that  in  the  beginning  the  Olympians  under 
Kronos  created  the  race  of  the  Men  of  Gold.  In  those  days  men 
lived  like  gods  in  unalloyed  happiness.  They  did  not  toil  with 
their  hands,  for  earth  brought  forth  her  fruits  without  their 
aid  They  did  not  know  the  sorrows  of  old  age,  and  death  was 
to  them  like  passing  away  in  a  calm  sleep.  After  they  had  gone 
hence,  their  spirits  were  appointed  to  dwell  above  the  earth, 
guarding  and  helping  the  living. 

The  gods  next  created  t'  ^  ^:n  of  Silver,  but  they  could  not 
be  compared  in  virtue  and  appiness  with  the  men  of  "the 
elder  age  of  golden  peace."  For  many  y-ars  they  remained  mere 
children,  and  as  soon  as  they  came  to  the  full  strength  and 
stature  of  manhood  they  refused  to  do  homage  to  the  gods  and 
fell  to  slaying  one  another.  After  death  they  became  the  good 
spirits  who  live  within  the  earth. 

The  Men  of  Bronze  followed,  springing  from  ash-trees  and 
having  hearts  which  were  hard  and  jealous,  so  that  with  them 
"lust  and  strife  began  to  gnaw  the  world."  All  the  works  of 
their  hands  were  wrought  in  bronze.  Through  their  own  in- 
ventions they  fell  from  their  high  estate  and  from  the  light  they 
passed  away  to  the  dark  realm  of  King  Hades  unhonoured  and 
unrcmcmbered. 

Zeus  then  placed  upon  earth  the  race  of  the  Heroes  who 
fought  -it  Thebes  and  Troy,  and  when  they  came  to  the  end  of 
life  the  Olympian  sent  them  to  happy  abodes  at  the  very  limits 
of  the  earth. 


■i 


ill 


-iB.;i 


i8  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

After  the  Heroes  came  the  Men  of  Iron  -  "the  race  of  these 
uild  latter  days."  Our  lot  is  labour  and  vexation  o^  spirit  .^y 
dav  and  bv  night,  nor  will  this  cease  until  the  race  ends  which 
^vill  be  wlien  the  order  of  nature  has  been  reversed  and  human 
affection  turned  to  hatred. 

It  is  onlv  too  plain  that  this  version  is  marked  by  an  incon- 
sistent development,  and  the  insertion  of  the  Age  of  Heroes 
between  the  Age  of  Bronze  and  the  Age  of  Iron  is  exceedingly 
clums^-  Ovid  shows  much  more  skill  in  the  joinery  of  his 
materi.1.  In  his  narrative  the  four  ages  of  the  metals  pass  with- 
out interruption,  and  for  their  wickedness  the  men  of  the  Iron 
Aee  arc  destroyed,  the  only  survivors,  Deukahon  and  Pyrrha, 
becoming  the  parents  of  a  new  race -the  race  to  which  we 

^""The'basic  idea  of  these  two  forms  of  the  myth  is  that  man 
was  created  pure  and  faultless  and  fell  by  degrees  to  his  pres- 
ent unworthy  condition,  this  being  borne  out  by  the  descent 
of  the  metals.   The  legend  points,  perhaps  accidentally,  to  an 
advance  in  human  responsibility  through  the  series  of  ages, 
although  its  transition  from  age  to  age  is  far  from  clear.   Frori. 
the  point  of  view  of  modern  ethics  the  story  contradicts  itself 
but  this  must  not  be  emphasized  too  strongly,  since  the  onginal 
motif. -.s  apparently  not  ethical.   The  countless  descriptions 
of  Che  Golden  Age  in  the  literatures  of  Greece  and  Rome  had 
a  powerful  influence  over  the  early  Christian  delineations  of 

ThTcreat  Flood. -Th^  Greeks  shared  with  almost  all  other 
peoples  the  belief  in  a  great  flood,  but  the  event  -  if  it  actually 
occurred- was  so  enshrouded  in  the  haze  of  a  remote  past  that 
all  the  accounts  of  it  which  have  come  down  to  us  are  plainly 
the  products  of  the  fertile  imagination  of  the  Greeks.  They  even 
attempted  to  fix  dates  for  it.  The  flood  of  Deukalion  and  Pyrrha 
was  sv-nchronized  by  some  with  tlie  reigns  of  Kranaos  of  Athens 
and  o'l  Nyktimos  of  Arkadia.  This  particular  deluge  is  the  one 
of  which  the  best  myths  treat,  and  in  describing  it  we  shall 


MYTHS  OF  THE  BEGINNING 


19 


give  in  substance  the  account  of  ApoUodoros,  as  being  simpler 
and  better  proportioned  than  that  of  Ovid. 

When  Zeus  would  destroy  the  men  of  the  Race  of  Bronze  for 
their  sin,  Deukalion  fashioned  a  great  chest  at  the  biddmg  of 
hi^  father  Prometheus.   Into  this  he  put  all  manner  of  food  and 
drink,  and  himself  entered  it  with  his  wife  Pyrrha  (daughter  of 
Epimetheus  and  Pandora).    Zeus  then  opened  the  sluices  of 
heaven  and  caused  a  great  rain  to  fall  upon  the  earth,  a  ram 
which  flooded  well-nigh  all  Hellas  and  spared  only  a  mere  hand- 
ful of  men  who  had  fled  to  the  neighbouring  hills.   Deukalion 
and  Pyrrha  were  borne  in  the  chest  across  the  waters  for  nine 
days  and  nine  nights  until  they  touched  Mount  Parnassos, 
on  which,  when  at  length  the  rain  had  ceased,  Deukalion  dis- 
embarked  and  offered   sacrifice   to  Zeus   Phyxios.    Through 
Hermes  Zeus  bade  him  choose  whatsoever  he  wished,  and  he 
chose  that  there  be  a  human  race.  Picking  up  some  stones  from 
the  ground  at  the  command  of  Zeus,  he  threw  them  over  his 
head  and  they  became  men,  while  the  stones  which  Pyrrha  cast 
in  like  manner  became  women.    Hence  from  Xaa-;,  "a  stone," 
men   were  called  \aol,  "people."  1°    In  his  version  Nonnos 
localizes  the  flood  in  Thessaly. 

Besides  the  foregoing,  there  are  other  flood-myths.  Megaros, 
the  founder  of  Megara,  was  said  to  have  been  rescued  from  a 
deluge  by  following  the  guiding  cry  of  a  flock  of  cranes;  Dar- 
danos  escaped  from  a  Samothracian  flood  by  drifting  to  the 
Asiatic  shore  on  a  boat  of  skins;  and  the  separation  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  it  was  related,  was  due  to  an  unprecedented  flow  of 

water. 

Most  scholars  of  comparative  mythology  now  agree  that 
the  flood  stories  of  the  various  peoples  are  germinally  of  local 
origin,  and  in  most  instances  consist  of  genuine  tradition  of  a 
wide-reaching  inundation  mingled  with  pure  myth. 


1  —  6 


CHAPTER  II 
MYTHS  OF  THE    PELOPONNESOS 

I.  ARKADIA 

P  EL  JSGOS.  — The  first  man  in  Arkadia  was  Pelasgos,  after 
whom  the  land  was  named  Pclasgia,  and  a  fragment  of 
Asios  says  that  "the  black  earth  bore  godlike  Pelasgos  on  the 
wooded  hi"s  that  there  might  be  r.  race  of  men."  Elsewhere  he 
is  called  the  son  of  Zeus  and  the  Argive  Xiobe,  and  if  Niobe 
was  really  an  earth  goddess,  as  we  have  reason  to  suspect,  these 
two  genealogies  are  in  fact  but  one.  Besides  being  the  founder 
of  human  civilization,  he  was  the  first  Arkadian  king  and 
temple  builder.  He  was  wedded  to  the  sea-nymph  Meliboia 
(or  Kyllene,  or  Deianeira),  by  whom  he  begat  a  son  Lykaon. 

Lykaon.  —  Lykaon,  too,  was  a  founder  who  built  the  city  of 
Lykosoura,  established  the  worship  of  Zeus  on  Mount  Lykaios, 
and  erected  the  temple  of  Hermes  of  Kyllene.  He  married 
many  wives,  who  bore  him  fifty  sons,  but  they  and  their  father 
manifested  such  impiety  and  arrogance  before  both  gods  and 
men  that  they  became  an  oflFence  in  the  eyes  of  Zeus.  In  order 
to  make  trial  of  them  Zeus  came  to  Lykaon's  palace  in  the  dis- 
guising garb  of  a  poor  day-labourer.  The  king  received  him 
kindly,  but  on  the  advice  of  one  of  his  sens  mingled  the  vitals 
of  a  boy  with  the  meat  of  the  sacrifices  and  set  them  on  the 
table  before  the  god.  With  divine  intuition  Zeus  detected  the 
trick.  R^-mg  in  anger  he  overturned  the  table,  destroyed  the 
house  of  Lykaon  with  a  thunderbolt,  changed  the  king  into  a 
wolf,  and  proceeded  to  slay  hir,  sons.  When  one  only,  Nyktimos, 
was  left,  Ge  (i.  e.  Gaia)  stayed  the  hand  of  Zeus.  This  son  sue- 


ir 


ji 


PLATE   X 
I 

Helen  and  Paris 

Aphrodite  rests  her  right  hand  and  arm  across  the 
shoulders  of  Helen,  a  young  won.an  of  attractive  but 
irresolute  manner,  and  looks  earnestly  into  her  face  as 
if  she  were  entreating  an  answer  to  a  question. 
Opposite  to  them  stands  Eros,  v  ho  seems  to  be 
endeavouring  to  persuade  Alexandros  (Paris)  to  come 
to  a  decision  in  a  matter  which  greatly  perplexes  him. 
From  a  marble  relief  in  Naples  (Brunn-Bruckmann, 
DenkmaUr  grtechhcher  und  romischer  Scu/ptur,  No. 
439)-     See  p.  125. 


ASKLEPIOS 

Since  the  myths  failed  to  endow  Asklepios  with 
distinctive  physical  traits,  artists,  impressed  by  the 
nobility  of  his  character  and  activities,  habitually 
likened  him  to  the  sublime  figure  of  Zeus,  and  cer- 
tainly this  representation  of  him  cannot  but  remind 
one  of  the  statuette  of  Zeus  reproduced  on  Plate 
XXXVn.  His  face  and  outstretched  left  hand 
promise  a  gracious  welcome  to  those  who  seek  his 
aid.  From  a  marble  relief,  pcrhs,,s  copied  from  the 
temple-statue  by  Thrasymedes  (fourth  century  b.c), 
discovered  at  Epidauros  and  now  in  Athens  (Brunn- 
Bruckmann,  Denimdler  gritchischer  und  romischer  Sculp- 
tur.  No.  3).      See  pp.  279  ff. 


ffk 


M\THS  OF  THE  PELOPONNESOS 


21 


ceeded  his  father  on  the  throne  and  during  his  reign  came  the 
great  flood  which  Zeus  sent  to  destroy  mankind. 

In  tliis  story  Lykaon  may  represent  an  old  Pelasgic  god  or 
king  whom  immigrating  Greeks  found  established  in  the  land. 
The  resemblance  between  the  Greek  word  Xw/co?,  "wolf," 
and  the  initial  syllable  of  the  name  Lykaon  may  perhaps  in 
part  have  given  rise  to  the  myth  of  Lykaon's  change  into  a 
wolf,  while  in  the  impious  offering  to  Zeu-  one  can  see  a  record 
of  human  sacrifice'  in  an  ancient  Zeus-ritual. 

Kallisto.  —  In  addition  to  his  fifty  wicked  sons  Lykaon  had 
another  child,  a  daughter  named  Kallisto  ("Fairest"),  who  was 
sometimes  spoken  of  simply  as  a  nymph,  a  circumstance  which 
probably  points  to  her  original  independence  of  Lykaon.    She 
was  a  companion  of  Artemis,  the  "huntress-goddess  chaste  and 
fair,"  who  exacted  of  her  followers  a  purity  equal  to  her  own. 
But  Zeus  deceived  Kallisto  and  took  advantage  of  her.   When 
she  was  about  to  bear  a  child  to  him,  Hera  discovered  her  con- 
dition, and,  turning  her  into  a  bear,  persuaded  Artemis  to  kill 
her  with  an  arrow  as  she  would  any  other  beast  of  the  wood- 
land. At  the  behest  of  Zeus,  Hermes  took  her  imborn  child  to 
his  mother  Maia  on  Mount  Kyllene,  where  he  was  reared  under 
the  name  of  Arkas,  but  the  slain  Kallisto  Zeus  placed  among 
the  constellations  as  the  Bear,  which,  never  setting,  ceaselessly 
revolves  about  the  pole-star,  tor  Tethys,  obeying  the  command 
of  Hera,  will  not  allow  the  evil  thing  to  bathe  in  the  pure  waters 
of  Okeanos. 

This  myth,  too,  can  be  traced  to  a  religious  origin.  In  Ar- 
kadia  the  bear  was  an  animal  sacred  to  Artemis,  one  of  whose 
cult-ritles  was  Kalliste,  a  name  which  could  readily  be  worked 
over  into  Kallisto.  Kallisto,  then,  both  maiden  and  bea',  was 
none  other  than  Artemis  herself.  Moreover,  the  similarity  in 
sound  between  Arkas  and  "A/jacto?  ("bear")  was  a  great  aid  to 
the  development  of  the  story  without  being  its  cause. 

Arkas,  Aleos,  A uge.  — Arkas,  though  generally  considered 
to  be  the  son  of  Kallioto  and  Zeus,  was  sometimes  designated 


: 


■  -s   ■  ■■  % 


22  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

as  the  twin  brother  of  Pan,  the  native  god  of  Arkadia.  One 
ale  even  makes  him  the  child  whose  flesh  Lykaon  se.ved  to 
Zeus  but  in  this  instance  Zeus  put  the  severed  members  to- 
.ethir  and  breathed  into  them  once  more  the  breath  of  Ufe. 
Th  child  was  then  reared  to  manhood  in  Aitoha  and  later 
followed  his  uncle  Nyktimos  as  king,  the  country  bemg  named 
A  kadia  after  him.  Arkas  wedded  the  nymph  Erato,  by  whom 
he  became  the  father  of  three  sons  who  had  many  descendants, 
and  even  in  our  era  his  grave  was  pointed  out  to  travellers  near 

^^Thetrie  sons  of  Arkas  divided  the  rule  among  themselves, 
and  one  of  his  grandsons,  Aleos,  founded  the  c.t>-  of  Tegea 
where  he  eBtablished  the  cult  of  Athene  Alea.    His  daughter 
Auge  ("Sunlight")  had  an  intrigue  with  Herakles  vvhen  he 
visfted  her  city,  and  after^-ard  secretly  bore  a  son  whom  she 
concealed  in  the  sacred  precincts  of  Athene    About  th:s  t.mc  a 
dreadful  plague  came  upon  the  land,  and  on  consultmg  the 
oracle  as  to  the  cause  of  it,  Aleos  was  warned  that  the  house 
of  the  goddess  was  harbouring  an  impure  thing.    After  a  search 
he  found  the  child  and  learned  of  his  daughter's  sm.  Enclosmg 
mother  and  son  together  in  a  chest,  he  cast  them  adnft  upon 
the  sea,  and  by  the  waves  they  were  borne  at  length  to  the  sho 
of  Mysia,  whence  they  were  led  to  the  court  of  Kmg  Teutl  as 
who  made  Auge  his  queen  and  accepted  her  son,  now  culkd 
Telephos,  as  his  own.    In  a  variation  of  the  tale  we  reaa  that 
Aleos  exposed  Telephos  on  the  mouutain-side  where  he  was 
suckled  by  a  doe  and  after^vard  found  by  hunters  or  by  herds- 
men    Auge  was  given  to  Nauplios  to  be  killed,  but  her  hfe 
was  spared,  and  she  and  her  son  ultimately  found  the.r  way 
to  Mysia.   We  shall  meet  with  Telephos  later  on  m  the  story 

of  the  Trojan  war.  .  ,     j.         -i 

The  Plague  at  Teuthis. -T\^^  pcoMe  of  the  Arkad.an  vil- 
lage  of  Teuthis  told  an  interesting  myth  which  purported  to 
account  for  a  visitation  of  sterility  on  their  soil.  The  villagers 
had  sent  a  certain  Teuthis  (or  Ornytos)  to  command  a  con- 


MYTHS  OF  THE  PELOPONNESOS  23 

tingent  of  Arkadians  in  the  war  against  Troy,  but  when  the 
Greeks  were  held  back  at  Aulis  by  head  winds,  Teuthis  quar- 
relled with  Agamemnon  and  threatened  to  lead  his  men  back 
home.  In  the  guise  of  a  man  Athere  appeared  to  him  and  tried 
to  dissuade  him  from  his  purpose,  but  in  a  fit  of  rage  he  pierced 
her  in  the  thigh  with  his  spear  and  withdrew  to  Greece.  At 
Teuthis  the  goddess  came  before  him  with  a  wound  in  her 
thigh  and  a  wasting  disease  fell  upon  him,  while  his  country 
was  stricken  with  a  failure  of  the  crops.  The  oracle  of  Zeus 
at  Dodona  instructed  the  people  that  if  they  desired  to  ap- 
pease the  goddess  they  must,  among  other  things,  make  a 
statue  of  her  with  a  wound  in  its  thigh,  and  Pausanias* 
naively  adds,  "  I  saw  this  image  myself,  with  a  purple  bandage 
wrapt  round  its  thigh." 


II.  LAKONIA  AND  MESSENE 

Ldex  and  his  Descendants.— The  first  man  and  first  king  of 
Lakonia  was  Lelex,  who,  like  Pelasgos,  was  autochthonous, 
i.  e.  the  offspring  of  the  soil.  From  him  the  country  derived  its 
name  of  Lelegia,  and  he  had  two  sons,  one  of  whom,  Myles, 
succeeded  him  in  the  sovereignty,  while  the  other,  Polykaon, 
became  the  ruler  of  the  kingdom  of  Messenia.  At  his  death 
Myles'  dominion  passed  into  the  hands  of  Eurotas,  the  largest 
river  of  the  land,  whose  daughter,  Sparta,  became  the  bride  of 
Lakedaimon;  Amyklas,ont  of  the  issue  of  this  union,  begetting 
a  famous  son,  Hyakinthos. 

Ilyakinthos.  —  This  Hyakinthos  was  one  of  the  chief  per- 
sonages in  Lakonian  worship  and  myth.  A  model  of  youthful 
beauty,  he  was  much  loved  by  Apollo,  and  Zephyros,  the  mild 
West  Wind,  also  loved  him,  but  since  his  devotion  was  unre- 
quited, in  an  outburst  of  jealousy  he  permitted  ?  discus  thrown 
by  Apollo  in  a  friendly  contest  to  swerve  aside  ana  kill  Hyakm- 
thos.  From  the  youth's  blood  caught  by  the  earth  sprang  up 
the  deep-red  hyacinth  flower,'  whose  foliage  is  marked  with 


^ 
W 


I 


^-k 


24  (]RKEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 

tlK'  letters  AI,  which  signified  to  the  Greeks  "lamentation." 
Lonp  did  Apollo  grieve  for  his  friend  unhappily  slain  by  his 
hand.  The  body  was  buried  at  Amyklai  where  in  the  temple 
of  Apollo  his  grave  was  for  long  years  visible  to  passers-by, 
and  from  the  mourning  of  Apollo  was  developed  the  great 
I.akonian   festival,  the  Hyakinthia,   the  first  days  of  which 
were  devoted  to  a  demonstration  of  grief,  while  the  last  day 
was  one  long  outburst  of  joy.   These  two  kinds  of  celebration 
marked  respectivelv  the  alternating  dying  and  revival  of  vege- 
tati..n  as  typified  maii.ly  by  the  hyacinth.    The  festival  was 
probablv  pre-Dorian  in  origin. 

Thr  Fcmilx  "/  P'rifrcs.  —  According  to  one  of  the  genealogies, 
Amvklas  had  a  grandson  Perieres  (or  Pieres)  who  held  the 
throne  of  Messene.  By  his  queen  Gorgophone,  the  daughter 
of  Perseus,  he  begat  four  sons,  Tyndareos,  Aphareus,  Ikarios, 
and  Leukippos,  all  of  whom  hold  prominent  places  in  myth 
through  the  fame  of  their  children.  Ikarios  became  the  father 
of  Penelope,  the  faithful  wife  of  Odysseus;  Aphareus,  of  Idas 
and  Lvnkeus;  Tvndareos,  of  Helen,  Klytaimestra  (old  spelling 
Klytemnestra),  Kastor,  Polydeukes,  and  others;  and  Leukip- 
pos, of  Hilacira  and  Phoebe. 

Tymianos,  Helen,  Kastor  and  Polydeukes. -Tyndareos  was 
cxpe'lled  from  Sparta  by  his  brothers,  and,  until  restored  to 
his  kingdom  by  Heraklcs,  he  took  refuge  with  Thestios,  kmg 
of  the  Aitolians,  whose  daughter,  Leda,  he  married. 

Tlie  story  of  the  birth  of  his  daughter,  Helen,  is  variously 
told  The  version  most  widely  known  is  that  which  depicts 
Leda  as  a  human  being  approached  by  Zeus  in  the  guise  of  a 
swan,  Helen,  the  ofTspring  of  this  union,  being  therefore  Leda  s 
own  child.  A  late  version,  on  the  other  hand,  represents  her 
as  the  daughter  of  Nemesis.  It  seems  that  Nemesis,  after 
taking  various  other  forms  in  order  to  elude  the  amorous  pur- 
suit of  Zeus,  finally  assumed  that  of  a  swan,  but  by  appearing 
in  the  same  shape  Zeus  deceived  her.  After  the  manner  of 
birds  she  laid  an  egg  which  was  found  by  a  peasant  (or  by 


-    l 

:■   ; 

m   ■ 

PLATF.    XI 

The   CoNlEST   Ft)R    Marpissa 

On  the  rijiht  the  tall,  athletic  man  drawing  his  how 
!>  Idas,  and  before  him  stands  Marpessa,  a  tigurc  re- 
plete with  feminine  graces,  who  casts  a  look  of  ijuict 
submission  upon  her  lover.  Halancmg  Idas  in  the 
composition  is  Apollo,  a  lithe  and  relatively  immature 
voung  man,  m-king  ready  to  place  an  arrow  on  the 
string;  and  beside  him  is  his  huntress-sister,  Artemis, 
carrdng  a  quiver  and  wearing  a  fawn-skin  on  her 
>houlders.  The  man  striding  between  the  two  groups 
as  if  to  part  them,  must  be  Kvcnos,  Marpessa's  father, 
and  nt)t  Zeus.  From  a  red-tigured  vase,  apparently 
of  the  school  of  Douris  (about  500  B.C.),  found  at 
Giriienti,  and  now  in  Munich  (Furtwangler-Rcich- 
huld,  Gritchiiihf  raunmaUrfi,  No.  if)).  Sec  pp.  27- 
28. 


n  11 


I 


^'i 


MYTHS  OF  THE   PELOPOXXESOS 


Tyndareos)  and  taken  to  Lcda.  In  due  time  Helen  emerged 
from  the  ceg  and  was  cherished  by  Leda  as  of  her  own  flesh 
and  blood.  When  she  was  nearing  womanhood  her  parents  sent 
her  to  Dolpliol  to  inquire  of  the  oracle  concerning  her  mar- 
riage. One  day,  wliile  the  response  was  being  awaited,  she  hap- 
pened to  be  dancini  -n  the  temple  of  Artemis  at  Sparta,  when 
Theseus  of  Atf  m-  Tid  I^i^  friend  Peirithoos  suddenly  appeared 
and  seized  her.  The  two  drew  lots  for  her  possession,  and  she 
was  given  to  "i  f  ,  us,  who  c:  .rricd  her  oflF  to  Attike  and  left 
her  in  charge  or  iiis  mother  Aithra  in  the  mountain  village  of 
Aphidnai.  Helen's  brothers,  Kastor  and  Polydeukes,  thinking 
that  she  was  at  Athens,  went  thither  and  demanded  her  re- 
lease, only  to  met  t  with  refusal.  Xot  long  afterward,  however, 
when  Theseus  departed  for  a  distant  country,  the  brothers 
learned  of  the  place  of  Helen's  concealment  and  by  a  sudden 
attack  succeeded  in  carrying  her  home  along  with  her  custo- 
dian Aithra.  The  citizens  of  Athens,  alarmed  at  the  military 
demonstration  of  Kastor  and  Polydeukes,  admitted  them  into 
their  city  and  thereafter  accorded  them  divine  honours.  This 
mj^h  we  can  probably  put  down  as  a  fiction  to  account  both 
for  an  early  clash  between  Athens  and  Sparta  and  for  the  in- 
troduction of  the  worship  of  Kastor  and  Polydeukes  into  the 
city  first  named. 

On  returning  to  her  home  after  this,  the  earliest  of  her  many 
adventures  with  men,  Helen  and  her  parents  (particularly  the 
latter,  as  we  may  readily  surmise)  were  much  perplexed  by  the 
importunity  of  a  multitude  of  suitors  for  her  hand.  It  was 
decided  that  the  matter  be  settled  by  lot,  but  before  the  lots 
were  cast  Tyndareos,  fearing  trouble  from  those  of  the  suitors 
who  would  be  doomed  to  disappointment,  shrewdly  persuaded 
them  to  consent  to  swear  that  they  would  one  and  all  defend 
Helen  and  the  successful  suitor  in  the  event  of  her  being 
wronged  in  the  future.  They  took  their  oaths  over  the  severed 
pieces  of  a  horse,  and  the  oaths  were  "bound,"  as  magic  terms 
it,  by  the  burial  of  the  pieces.    By  the  lots  Helen  became  the 


Mil 

i 


26 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


wife  of  Menclaoi:  of  Arg-s.  Her  later  adventures  belong  to 
the  story  of  the  great  Trojan  War. 

Helen's  twin  brothers,  Kastor  and  Poiydeukes,  were  known 
jointly  as  the  Dioskouroi,  "sons  of  Zeus,"  although  it  was 
popularly  believed  that  only  Poiydeukes  was  ii.  fact  the  son 
of  the  god,  Tyndareos  being  the  father  of  the  other.  These 
brothers  were  conspicuous  figures  in  Spartan  cult  and  myth, 
and  were  regarded  by  the  ancient  Greeks  in  general  as  the 
outstanding  exponents  of  heroic  virtue  and  valour.  So  faithful 
and  deep  was  their  affection  for  one  another  that  their  two  per- 
sonalities were  blended  as  into  one,  and  thus  they  stood  as  the 
divine  guardians  of  friendship.  They  excelled  in  athletic  sports 
and  feats  of  arms,  Kastor  being  the  type  of  expert  horseman 
and  Poiydeukes  that  of  the  skilful  boxer,  while  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  Athene's  flute  they  are  said  to  have  invented  the 
Spartan  military  dance.  Their  altar  stood  at  the  entrance  to 
the  hippodrome  at  Olympia,  and  they  appeared  frequently  on 
the  heroic  stage.  They  participated  in  the  voyage  of  the  Ar- 
gonauts and  in  the  great  hunt  at  Kalydon,  and  at  Sparta  they 
fought  against  Enarsphoros,  the  son  of  Hippokoon,  but  their 
chief  military  exploit  was  their  sanguinary  encounter  with 
their  cousins  Idas  and  Lynk<us,  the  sons  of  Aphareus. 

This  story  is  told  in  two  distinct  forms.  In  one,  the  two  pairs 
of  brothers  were  making  raids  on  the  cattle  of  Arkadia.  Idas 
and  Lynkeus  were  driving  a  captured  herd  into  Messenia  when 
they  almost  fell  into  an  ambuscade  laid  for  them  by  Kastor 
and  Poiydeukes.  These  latter  had  hidden  themselves  in  a 
hollow  oak,  but  they  could  not  elude  the  keen  eyes  of  Lyn- 
keus, who  was  able  to  see  through  the  hearts  of  trees  and 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Lynkeus  attacked  Kastor 
and  killed  him,  but  Poiydeukes  swiftly  pursued  his  brother's 
slayer  and  struck  him  down  as  he  was  about  to  roll  upon  him 
the  image  of  Hades  which  stood  on  Aphareus's  tomb.  Sud- 
denly Zeus  intervened  and  smote  Idas  with  a  thunderbolt 
which   consumed   the  bodies  of  the  slain  brothers  together, 


i\nTHS  OF  THE   PELOPOXXESOS  27 

whereupon  Polydeukcs  prayed  Zeus  to  be  reunited  with  Kas- 
tor,  obtaining  an  answer  in  the  divine  permission  ever  after- 
ward t  .  live  with  him  alternately  on  Olympos  and  in  the 
underw  rid. 

In  its  other  form  the  story  depicts  the  brothers  of  each  family 
as  rivals  for  the  hands  of  their  two  cousins,  the  daughters 
ol  Leukippos.  The  sons  of  Tyndarcos  seized  the  maidens 
and  carried  them  oflF,  pursued  by  the  sons  of  Aphareus  who 
kept  taunting  them  with  having  violated  the  custom  of  the 
country  by  withholding  marriage  presents  from  the  brides' 
parents.  In  reprisal  Kastor  and  Polydeukes  appropriated  their 
pursuers'  cattle  and  gave  them  to  Leukippos,  tl;  consequence 
being  a  double  duel  in  which  Kastor  killed  Lynkeus,  and  the.. 
Idas  slew  Kastor  for  his  insults  to  the  dead,  and  lastly  Poly- 
deukes killed  Idas.  After  this  the  sons  of  Tyndareos  were 
vouchsafed  immortality,  as  in  the  first  version  cf  the  myth. 
Their  significance  in  cult,  together  with  that  of  Helen,  will  be 
explained  in  our  consideration  of  the  divinities  of  light.  Idas 
and  Lynkeus  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  xMessenian  doubles  of 
the  Dioskouroi. 

Idas  and  Marpessa.  —  Evenos,  the  uncle  of  Leda,  had  a 
daughter  Marpessa.  Both  Apollo  and  Idas,  enamoured  of  her 
beauty,  became  her  suitors,  and  the  latter  in  his  passionate 
love  seized  her  and  bore  her  away  in  a  winged  chariot,  the  gift 
of  Poseidon.  Eluding  the  pursuit  of  Evenos,  he  brought  her  to 
Messene,  where  Apollo  attempted  to  wrest  her  from  him  and 
would  have  worked  his  will  had  not  Zeus  interrupted  the  quar- 
rel and  bidden  the  maiden  choose  between  the  rivals.  Marpessa, 
fearing  that  the  fickleness  of  Apollo  in  the  past  was  a  poor 
promise  of  fidelity  in  the  future,  chose  the  mortal  suitor  Idas. 

'"If  I  live  with  Idas,  then  we  two 

On  the  low  earth  shall  prospr -•  hand  in  hand 
In  odours  of  the  open  field,  and  live 
In  peaceful  noises  of  the  farm,  and  watch 
The  pastoral  fields  burned  by  the  setting  sun. 


!!  I 


1    ,! . 


m 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 

And  he  shall  pi\  e  me  passionate  children,  not 
Some  radiant  i.">d  that  will  despise  me  quite. 
But  clambering'  limbs  and  little  hearts  that 


When  she  had  ^p^lken,  Idas  with  one  cry 
Held  Iter,  and  there  was  silence;  while  the  god 
In  ani/er  disappeared.     Then  slowly  they. 
He  lookinrr  downward,  and  she  gazing  up, 
Into  the  evening  green  wandered  away."  * 


III.    ARCOS 

The  land  of  Argolis  was  so  situated  in  relation  to  the  main 
highways  of  navigation  in  the  Mediterranean  as  to  invite  a 
great  variety  of  foreign  connexions.  In  this  one  may  find  an 
explanation  of  the  motley  fabric  of  Argivc  myth,  and  a  careful 
study  of  its  composition  makes  it  possible  to  state  with  some 
degree  of  assurance  the  sources  of  its  sundry  elements.  Natur- 
ally, it  is  outside  the  scope  of  this  work  to  tag  each  constituent 
tale  of  the  narrative  with  its  national  origin.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  we  find  a  nucleus  of  native  Argive  myth  overlaid  in  an 
irregular  fashion  with  legends  of  Cretan,  Euboian,  Boiotian, 
Milesian,  Corinthian,  Megarian,  and  Aitolian  provenance,^ 
which,  regardless  of  the  question  of  their  origin,  are  nearly  all 
fraught  with  interest  for  the  student  of  comparative  religion 
and  custom. 

Inachos,  lo.  — The  first  figure  in  the  purely  Argive  part  of 
the  complex  of  myths  is  that  of  Inachos,  the  principal  river  ^nd 
river-god  of  the  Argolid.  In  the  developed  genealogy  he  is  the 
offspring  of  Okeanos  and  Tethys,  and  by  a  marriage  with  an 
Okeanid  he  begat  two  sons,  Phoroneus  and  Aigialeus,  the  first 
of  whom,  also  said  to  be  an  autochthon,  we  have  already  seen 
as  one  of  the  pioneers  of  human  culture.  Aigialeus,  especially 
prominent  among  the  people  of  Sikyon,  was  the  personification 
of  the  southern  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Corinth.  Phoroneus  had 
two  children  —  Apis,  after  whom  the  Peloponnesos  was  called 


PLATE   XII 

lo    AND    ArgOS 

In,  who  can  be  identified  bv  the  mere  point  of  a 
horn  protruding  from  her  hair,  is  seated  on  a  stone 
and  looks  appealingly  at  her  guardian.  Argos  stands 
with  one  foot  on  a  stone  and  rests  his  right  hand  on  a 
crag  m  the  background,  as  he  gazes  straight  in  front 
of  h.m  with  wide  staring  eyes.  It  is  easily  seen  that 
the  pamter  has  entirely  forgotten  or  ignored  the  orig- 
inal religious  meaning  of  the  myth.  From  a  Pompeian 
wall-painting  (Hermann-Bruckmann,  Denkmaler  der 
MaUrei  des  Alurtums,  No.  53).      See  pp.  28-30 


M 


M\THS  OF  THE  PELOPOXNESOS  29 

Apia;  and  Xiobc,  by  whom  Zeus  became  the  father  of  Pelasgos 
and  Argos.  One  of  the  descendants  of  Argos  of  the  third  or 
fourth  generation  was  Argos  Panoptes  ("All-Seeing"), a  monster 
whose  body  was  covered  with  e\es.  He  slew  the  bull  which 
was  ravaging  Arkadia,  flayed  it,  and  used  its  skin  as  a  garment, 
and  he  is  also  said  to  have  killed  Satyros  as  he  was  raiding  the 
herds  of  the  Arkadians,  and  to  have  trapped  Echidna,  the 
hideous  issue  of  Tartaros  and  Gaia. 

lo,  the  chief  personage  in  this  group  of  mjths,  was  counted 
cither  as  the  daughter  of  Inachos  (orof  Pciren,  perhaps  a  double 
of  Inachos),  or  as  a  comparatively  late  descendant.   An  exact 
genealogy  is  not  essential  to  her  story.    She  was  the  priestess 
of  the  temple  of  Hera,  the  divine  patroness  of  Argos,  and  her 
charms  drew  upon  her  the  attentions  of  Zeus,  who  corrupted 
her,  but  who  denied  the  deed  when  charged  with  it  by  his 
wife.     Like  a  coward  he  changed  into  a  white  heifer  the  maiden 
whom  he  had  wronged  and  surrendered  her  to  Hera,  who  put  her 
in  care  of  the  vigilant  Argos  Panoptes.     By  him  she  was  teth- 
ered to  an  olive-tree  in  the  grove  of  Mykenai,  but  at  the  com- 
mand of  Zeus,  Hermes  slew  Argos,  thereby  earning  for  himself 
the  title  of  Argeiphontes  ("Argos-Slayer"  «),  and  set  lo  free, 
whereupon,  animated  by  a  merciless  spite,  Hera  sent  a  gad-fly 
to  pursue  her  from  land  to  land.    She  was  driven  first  of  all 
to  the  gulf  whose  name,  Ionian,  even  today  commemorates 
her  visit,  and  thence  across  Illyrikon  and  Thrace,  whence  she 
made  her  way  to  Asia  over  the  straits  which  from  that  day 
were  called  thi   ".osporos  ("Ox-Ford"^).   Through  Caucasus, 
Skythia,  and  Kimmeria  (Crimea),  even  across  the  Euxine,  she 
was  goaded  by  the  fly  until  at  length  she  reached  Egypt,  where 
she  was  given  rest  and  restored  by  Zeus  to  her  human  form. 
On  the  banks  of  the  Nile  she  bore  a  son  Epaphos  ("Touch") 
to  the  god,  but  the  presence  of  the  babe  was  offensive  to  the 
jealous  spirit  of  Hera,  and  through  her  machinations  Epaphos 
was  taken  from  his  mother  and  hidden  in  a  far  land.    Again 
the  distressed  lo  was  compelled  to  wander  on  the  face  of  the 


30 


GREEK  AND  RO.\L\N  MVl.iOLOGY 


carih,  until,  after  a  long  search,  she  found  her  son  in  Syria 
anJ  brought  him  back  to  Egypt,  where  he  became  the  fore- 
father of  several  great  peoples. 

The  suggestions  put  forth  to  account  for  the  myth  of  lo  are 
many  and  varied.  Most  of  them  try  lo  identify  both  her  and 
Argos  with  celestial  phenomena.  For  instance,  lo  is  the  moon 
with  its  horned  crescent  wandering  across  the  sky,  and  her  guar- 
dian, Argos,  is  the  starry  heavens.  Such  suggestions  as  these, 
however,  fail  to  satisfy  the  profou-  der  student  of  folk-lore, 
since  they  do  not  even  attempt  to  give  a  reason  for  the  senti- 
ment, almost  akin  to  reverence,  with  which  the  Argives  regarded 
the  person  of  lo.  The  Heraion,  the  temple  of  Hera  near  Argos, 
was  doubtless  the  source  of  the  earliest  form  of  the  myth,  and 
probably  lo  was  none  other  than  Hera  herself,  who  elsewhere  is 
said  to  have  assumed  the  form  of  a  cow.  At  all  events,  the  cow 
was  sacred  in  the  cult  of  Hera.  The  tale  of  lo's  wanderings  is 
apparently  a  late  addition  brought  in  from  outside  when  the 
original  theme  assumed  new  forms  among  the  alien  tribes  and 
cities  which  had  dealings  with  Argos. 

The-  Families  of  Danaos  and  Aigyptos.  —  Belos,  a  grandson 
of  Epaphos,  ruled  over  Egypt,  and  by  a  daughter  of  the  Nile 
had  four  sons,  in  only  two  of  whom,  Danaos  and  Aigyptos,  we 
are  interested  at  present.  The  latter  was  appointed  king  of 
Arabia  by  his  father,  but  by  conquest  he  added  to  his  realm 
the  country  of  the  Melampodcs  ("Black  Feet")  which  he 
named  Aigyptos*  ("Egypt")  after  himself.  H  had  a  family  of 
fifty  sons,  and  his  brother  Danaos,  the  sovereign  of  Libya,  the 
same  number  of  daughters.  The  two  brothers  became  involved 
in  a  political  quarrel,  and  Danaos  with  his  daughters  fled 
by  ship  to  Argos,  whose  king,  Gelanor,  yielded  the  crown  to 
him,  thus  restoring  it  to  the  line  of  lo.  As  it  happened,  the 
land  had  been  without  sufficient  water  since  the  time  when 
Poseidon  had  dried  up  the  springs  and  streams  to  punish 
Inachos  for  his  award  of  the  divine  supremacy  of  Argos  to 
Hera,  but  one  of  Danaos's  daughters,  Amymone,  gained  the 


MYTHS  OF  THE  PELOPONNESOS  31 

love  of  Poseidon  and  through  him  received  knowledge  of  the 
abundant  springs  of  Lerne,  which  thenceforth  were  a  perpetual 
blessing  to  the  land  and  to  the  people.  Presently  the  fifty 
sons  of  Aigyptos  appeared  in  Argos  and  demanded  their  fifty 
cousins  in  marriage.  Though  distrusting  them,  Danaos  ac- 
quiesced in  their  demand,  but  secretly  he  gave  to  each  daughter 
a  weapon  with  which  she  was  to  slay  her  husband  at  the  earliest 
opportunity,  and  on  their  wedding-night  all  except  Hyper- 
mnestra  stabbed  their  bridegrooms  to  death  in  bed.  For  her  dis- 
obedience Danaos  imprisoned  Hypcrmnestra,  but  later,  relent- 
ing, allowed  her  to  live  with  her  husband,  Lynkcus,  while  her 
sisters  buried  their  husbands'  heads  in  the  spring  of  Lerne 
and  interred  the  bodies  before  the  city.  In  compliance  with  the 
behest  of  Zeus,  Athene  and  Hermes  cleansed  them  of  the  guilt 
of  bloodshed,  after  which  Danaos  held  a  series  of  athletic  con- 
tests, to  the  winners  of  which  he  gave  his  widowed  daughters 
in  marriage.  In  an  older  form  of  the  myth  than  that  which 
we  have  just  outlined,  Lynkeus  immediately  avenged  the  mur- 
der of  his  brothers  by  killing  not  only  the  guilty  daughters, 
but  Danaos  as  well.  In  Hades  these  women  were  condemned 
to  the  endless  task  of  filling  a  bottomless  jar  with  water  drawn 
in  leaky  vessels. 

This  myth  is  a  strange  conglomerate  of  primitive  magic  and 
cult.  It  seems  to  be,  in  part,  of  an  aetiological  character,  and 
to  purport  to  reveal  the  origin  of  the  ritual  of  a  rain-charm 
which  had  somehow  become  associated  with  the  cult  of  the 
dead.  In  this  ritual  a  bottomless  jar  would  be  placed  over  the 
grave  of  one  who  had  died  young  or  unmarried,  and  the  liquids 
poured  into  the  vessel  passed  forthwith  into  the  ground  and 
to  the  souls  of  the  dead,  the  Bavaoi,  "thirsty  ones,"  who 
would  put  an  end  to  the  drought  as  soon  as  their  own  thirst 
should  be  satisfied.  In  all  probability  Hypcrmnestra  was  a 
priestess  of  Hera  in  her  capacity  of  goddess  of  wedlock,  and 
thus  constitutes  a  link  binding  this  myth  with  those  emanating 
at  an  earlier  period,  and  more  directly,  from  the  Heraion.' 


111 


',f 


}2  C.REKK  AND   ROMAX  MVTHOLCKIY 

Tho  c.nncxion  of  Amymonc  and  t!,c  springs  of  Lcrnc  with  the 
myth  (if  the  Danaids  cannot  be  original. 

Prohos  ami  his  Dauiihtrrs.- On   the  death  of  Danaos  his 
son-.n-law    I.ynkeus   became   king.     He   had   two  grandsons, 
AknsK.s  and  Proitos,  who  were  said  to  have  fought  with  one 
another  even  before  birth,  so  early  did  a  quarrel  over  tlie  suc- 
cession arise  between  them.   When  they  became  men,  Akrisios 
ffot  the  upper  hand  and  e.xiled  his  brother  who  went  to  Lykia, 
in  Asia  Minor,  where  he  was  hospitably  received  by  King  lo^ 
bates  and  was  given  the  princess  Anteia   (or  Stheneboia)  in 
marriage.    With  the  aid  of  a  Lykian  army  he  returned  to  the 
Peloponnesos,  captured  Tiryns  in  spite  of  its  strong  fortifica- 
t.ons,  and  there  established  his  rule.    His  wife  bore  him  three 
daughters,  who  in  young  womanhood  were  stricken  with  mad- 
ness, either  for  refusing  the  rites  of  Dionysos,  or  for  treating 
an  image  of  Hera  with  contempt.   Raving  wildly,  they  roamed 
throughout  the  land  until  Melampous   ("Black  Foot,"  i.  c 
Egyptian)  of  Pylos,  a  seer  skilled  in  the  use  of  healing  drugs,' 
promised  to  cure  them  on  condition  that  Proitos  surrender  to 
him  one  third  of  the  kingdom.   This  Proitos  refused  to  do  but 
meanwhile  the  evil  grew,  for  the  other  women  of  the  cou'ntry 
were  becoming  infected  with  the  madness.   The  seer  renewed 
his  promise  of  healing,  this  lime  with  the  added  condition  that 
a  second  third  of  the  kingdom  go  to  his  brother  Bias.    At 
last  Proitos  yielded,  and  his  daughters  were  made  whole  by 
means  of  Bacchic  rites.    Bias  wedded  one  of  the  two  younger 
maidens,  and  Melampous  the  other,  by  whom  he  became  the 
founder  of  a  family  of  seers. 

The  instructive  feature  of  this  myth  is  its  revelation  of  two 
strata  of  cults  in  primitive  Argos,  the  earlier  that  of  Hera,  the 
later  that  of  Dionysos.  The  alleged  impious  acts  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  Proitos  seem  to  serve  as  explanation  for  certain  wanton 
words  and  rites  in  the  worship  of  these  two  gods  in  historical 
times.>»  With  this  story  we  may  compare  a  Boiotian  legend 
which  records  the  madness  of  the  daughters  of  Minyas. 


le 


IS 


1 

If 

ij 

m 

li 

1:1 

1 

platp:  XIII 

Perseu.-. 

Although  unaccompanied  by  an  inscription  this 
figure  can  be  definitely  identified  as  Perseus.  In  his 
right  hand  he  holds  the  harpe^  or  sickle-sword,  the  gift 
of  Hermes,  on  his  shoulders  hangs  the  pouch  which 
he  leceived  from  the  Nymphs,  and  on  his  feet  are  the 
winged  sandals  which  bear  him  swiftly  through  the 
air.  His  head-gear  seems  to  be  not  the  dog-skin  cap 
ot  Hades,  but  a  special  form  of  the  petasos,  or  travelling 
hat.  from  a  red-figured  amphora  of  about  500  B.C., 
in  Munich  (Kurtwangler-Reichhold,  Griechische  Fasen- 
maUrel,  No.  134).      See  pp.  32  ft'. 


M\THS  OF  THE  PELOPONXESOS 


33 


Akrisios,  Danae,  and  Perseus.  —  Akrisios,  who  continued  to 
hold  sway  over  Argos,  was  told  by  an  oracle  that  his  daughter's 
son  would  kill  him.  To  circumvent  the  prophecy  he  enclosed 
his  daughter  Danae  in  a  brazen  chamber,  thinking  thereby  to 
cut  her  off  from  all  human  intercourse;  but  he  failed  in  his  pur- 
pose; for,  as  some  say,  the  maiden  was  corrupted  by  her  uncle 
Proitos,  or,  as  others  claim,  by  Zeus,  who  won  his  way  to  her 
in  the  form  of  a  shower  of  gold  falling  through  an  aperture  in 
the  roof  of  her  prison  When  she  had  given  birth  to  a  son  whom 
she  called  Perseus,  Akrisios  put  them  both  in  a  chest  and  sent 
them  adrift  on  the  waters  of  the  Aegean.  By  wind  and  wave 
the  chest  was  carried  to  Seriphos,  where  it  was  dragged  ashore 
by  Diktys,  the  brother  of  Polydektes,  the  king  of  the  island, 
who  released  Danae  and  her  child  and  gave  them  a  home. 
After  a  number  of  years  Polydektes  made  love  to  Danae  but 
was  rejected.  Fearing  to  take  her  by  force,  since  Perseus  was  by 
this  time  quite  capable  of  defending  his  mother,  he  devised  a 
plan  to  get  her  son  out  of  the  way.  To  all  his  friends  he  sent 
invitations  to  a  wedding-feast,  and  Perseus,  with  the  extrava- 
gant asseveration  '"f  youth,  replied  that  he  would  not  fail  to 
be  present  even  if  he  had  to  bring  the  Gorgon's  head.  When 
the  guests  had  assembled  and  it  was  discovered  that  all  of  them 
except  Perseus  had  brought  horses  as  presents,  Polydektes  dis- 
missed him  until  he  should  have  fulfilled  his  promise  to  the 
letter,  warning  him,  moreover,  that  in  event  of  failure  his 
mother  would  be  wedded  by  force.  Sadly  Perseus  withdrew  to 
a  lonely  spot;  but  in  the  midst  of  his  perplexity  Hermes  and 
Athene  appeared  and  led  him  to  the  Graiai,  the  ancient  daugh- 
ters of  Phorkys  and  Keto.  These  had  been  grey  from  birth 
and  had  amongst  them  only  one  eye  and  one  tooth,  which 
they  used  in  turns.  By  getting  possession  of  these  indispen- 
sable members  and  by  threatening  to  keep  them,  Perseus  com- 
pelled the  Graiai  to  tell  him  the  way  to  the  dwell! ig-place  of 
the  nymphs  who  guarded  the  dog-skin  cap  of  Hades,  the  winged 
sandals,  and  the  magic  pouch.    Following  the  directions  given 


11!     1 

111  I 


■,\il 


!(!' 


»l:i| 


34 


GREEK  AND   RO.NUN  M\THOLOGY 


him,  he  made  his  way  to  the  nymphs  and  secured  the  objects 
which  he  so  much  desired.  With  the  sandals  he  flew  through 
the  air  to  the  land  of  the  Gorgons  near  distant  Okeanos,  where 
he  found  the  three  monstrous  sisters  asleep.  Their  heads  were 
covered  with  the  horny  scales  of  reptiles,  their  teeth  were  like 
the  tusks  of  swine,  and  they  had  hands  of  brass  and  wings  of 
gold.  Their  most  formidable  endowment,  however,  was  their 
power  to  turn  to  stone  those  who  looked  upon  them.  Aware 
of  this,  Perseus  with  averted  face  approached  Medousa,  the 
only  one  of  the  three  who  was  mortal,  and,  guiding  himself 
by  the  reflection  of  her  image  in  his  shield,  he  struck  off 
her  head  with  a  single  blow  of  the  scimitar  which  Hermes 
had  given  him,  dropping  the  precious  trophy  in  his  pouch. 
From  Medousa's  severed  neck  leaped  forth  Pegasos,  the 
winged  horse,  which  flew  aloft  to  the  house  of  Zeus  to  be- 
come the  bearer  of  the  thunderbolt  and  lightning;  and  from 
the  wound  also  sprang  Chrysaor  who  was  to  be  the  father 
of  the  three-bodied  Geryoneus.  It  is  said  that  Athene  was 
witness  of  the  Gorgon's  death  and  on  the  spot  invented  the 
flute  on  which  she  imitated  the  dying  monster's  shrieks 
and  groans.  As  Perseus  flew  across  Libya  after  his  success- 
ful exploit  drops  of  blood  dripped  from  the  pouch  upon  the 
land  and  became  the  germs  of  a  breed  of  poisonous  serpents, 
this  being  the  reason  why  there  are  so  many  of  these  reptiles 
in  this  part  of  Africa.  Medousa's  sisters  on  waking  were  un- 
able to  pursue  Perseus  since  the  cap  of  Hades  rendered  him 
invisible. 

On  his  return  flight  Perseus  found  the  land  of  Aithiopia 
sufTering  from  the  ravages  of  a  great  monster  sent  by  Poseidon 
to  punish  the  boast  of  Queen  Kassiepcia  that  she  was  more 
beautiful  than  the  sca-nymphs.  In  an  endeavour  to  appease 
the  monster  in  a  manner  counselled  by  an  oracle,  Kepheus, 
the  king,  bound  his  daughter  Andromeda  to  a  rock  beside  the 
sea,  and  just  as  Perseus  came  the  monster  was  about  to  devour 
her.  Moved  to  pity  and  love  at  the  sight  of  her  as  she  cowered 


MYTHS  OF  THE  PELOPONNESOS  35 

before  the  great  creature,  Perseus  without  delay  forced  from 
licT  father  the  promise  that  she  should  become  his  bride  if  he 
could  succeed  in  releasing  her.  Approaching  the  monster, 
Perseus  drew  from  his  pouch  the  Gorgon's  head  "  and  turned 
him  to  stone,  and  later,  when  his  claim  to  the  freed  Andromeda 
was  disputed  by  her  uncle  Phineus,  to  whom  she  had  been 
betrothed,  he  treated  him,  too,  in  the  same  fashion.  After  his 
marriage  he  lingered  many  months  in  Aithiopia  and  begat  by 
Andromeda  a  son  Perses  who  was  destined  to  become  the 
parent  of  the  Persian  people.  On  coming  back  to  Seriphos, 
Perseus  found  Polydektes  on  the  point  of  offering  violence  to 
his  mother,  whereupon,  summoning  him  and  his  courtiers  to 
his  presence,  he  turned  them  to  stone  and  made  Diktys  king 
in  place  of  his  brother.  The  winged  sandals,  the  pouch, 
and  the  cap  he  restored  to  their  original  guardians  and  gave 
AJi  dousa's  head  to  Athene,  who  attached  it  to  her  shield. 

After  an  absence  of  many  years  Perseus  returned  to  his 
native  Argos  with  his  mother  and  his  wife.  Akrisios,  apprehend- 
ing that  the  oracle  might  yet  be  fulfilled,  fled  to  Thessaly,  and 
while  there  chanced  to  be  present  at  certain  funeral  games  in 
which  Perseus  was  a  contestant.  Purely  by  accident  the  young 
man  threw  a  discus  so  that  it  struck  and  killed  his  grandfather, 
whereupon,  through  remorse  for  his  deed,  he  refused  to  go 
back  to  Argos  and  took  the  kingdom  of  Tiryns  in  exchange. 
From  Tiryns  he  founded  the  cities  of  Mideia  and  Mykenai, 
and  in  the  latter  place  Andromeda  bore  to  him  many  illustri- 
ous sons  and  one  daughter,  Gorgophone,  whose  name  com- 
memorated her  father's  most  famous  exploit. 

Another  story  is  told  of  Perseus  which  has  all  the  marks  of 
great  age.  Dionysos  came  to  Argos  and  when  bidden  to  de- 
part refused  to  go.  Thereupon  Hera,  in  the  form  of  Melampous, 
prompted  Perseus  and  the  Argives  to  give  battle  to  him  and 
his  host  of  Maenads  and  satyrs.  Grasping  his  scimitar  in  one 
hand  and  the  Gorgon's  head  in  the  other,  Perseus  flew  aloft 

with  the  winged  sandals  and  tried  to  attack  the  god  from 
'  —  7 


Ml 


36 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


above,  but  Dionysos  foiled  him  by  increasing  his  stafire  until 
he  touched  heaven.  At  the  sight  of  Mcdousa's  head  Ariadne, 
the  wife  of  Dionysos,  became  an  image  of  stone,  and  this  so 
filled  her  husband's  heart  with  rage  that  he  would  have  de- 
stroyed Perseus  and  all  the  cities  of  his  realm,  with  Hera  as 
well,  had  not  Hermes  checked  him  by  force.  On  becoming 
calm  the  god  recognized  that  the  attack  had  been  inspired  by 
Hera,  and  he  accordingly  absolved  Perseus  from  all  blame, 
whereupon  the  Argivcs  instituted  rites  in  honour  of  both 
Dionysos  and  Perseus.  Later  generations,  it  was  said,  were 
able  to  locate  the  graves  of  the  Maenads  who  fell  in  the 
struggle,  as  well  as  the  hiding-place  of  Mcdousa's  head. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  one  school  of  scholars,  who  have  the 
foible  of  tracing  almost  every  deity  back  to  a  Cretan  or  Philis- 
tine origin,  that  Perseus  sprang  from  a  Cretan  offshoot  of  the 
sun-worship  of  Gaza,  and  that  the  story  was  borne  from  Crete 
to  Thronion  of  the  Lokrians,  where  Perseus  was  identified  with 
Hermes  and  assimilated  many  of  his  attributes.  A  much  more 
plausible  theory  holds,  however,  that  Perseus  was  a  pre-Dorian 
hero  of  the  Peloponnesos  whose  cult  was  so  wide-spread  as  to 
make  it  necessary  for  the  Dorian  conquerors  to  connect  them- 
selves with  him  genealogically  in  order  to  maintain  their  su- 
premacy among  the  people.  The  story  of  Perseus  impresses 
one  as  being  an  ancient  folk-tale.*'' 

Historically,  the  account  of  the  birth  of  Herakles  should  be 
included  among  the  Argive  myths,  but  we  shall  prefix  it  to  the 
narrative  of  the  hero's  career  to  which  it  logically  belongs. 

IV.    CORINTH 


The  Divine  Patrons  of  Corinth.  —  The  great  patron  deity  of 
Corinth  was  Poseidon  who  gave  prosperity  to  her  mariners  and 
traders.  Yet  he  did  not  have  this  high  place  from  the  beginning, 
for  when  he  made  his  claim,  Helios,  the  sun,  disputed  it.  Both 
disputants  submitted  their  respective  cases  to  Briareos  of  the 


<l 

1 

T 

i 

* 

PLATE   XIV 


Endymion 


Endymion  has  fallen  asleep  on  a  ledge  of  rock  on 
the  steep  face  of  Mount  Latmos.  Across  his  left 
shoulder  rests  the  spear  with  which  he  defends  his 
flocks  against  the  wild  beasts.  Just  above  him  his 
dog,  tied  by  a  leash,  is  looking  upward  and  baying, 
perhaps  at  the  Moon,  his  master's  lover.  From  a 
marble  relief  in  the  Capitoline  Museum,  Rome  (Brunn- 
Bruckmann,  DenkmdUr  griechischer  und  rimischer  Sculp- 
tur.  No.  440).     See  p.  245. 


Perseus  and  Andromeda 

This  relief  seems  to  represent  a  moment  just  after 
the  death  of  the  monster.  Perseus,  wearing  the  winged 
sandals,  extends  his  right  hand  to  Andromeda  to  help 
her  descend  from  the  rocks  to  which  she  has  been 
bound,  while  he  holds  his  left  hand  behind  his  back  as 
if  to  hide  the  Gorgon's  head,  one  glance  at  which 
would  turn  Andromeda  into  stone.  The  sea-monster's 
head,  apparently  severed  from  the  body,  or,  perhaps, 
as  the  symbol  of  the  entire  body,  is  lying  at  the  foot 
of  the  rocks.  From  a  marble  relief  in  the  Capito- 
line Museum,  Rome  (Brunn-Bruckmann,  DenkmiiUr 
griechischer  und  rimischer  Sculptur^  No.  440).  See  pp. 
34-35- 


{ 


&[ 


\nTHS  OF  THE  PELOPONNESOS 


37 


hundred  arms,  and  he  awarded  the  Isthmus  to  Poseidon,  and 
Akrokorinthos,  the  citadel,  to  Helios. 

Sisyphos.  —  The  eldest  son  of  Deukalion  and  Pyrrha  was 
Hellen  whose  destiny  it  was  to  have  his  name  perpetuated  in 
that  of  the  Hellenic  race.  One  of  his  sons,  Aiolos,  the  ruler  of 
certain  districts  in  Thessaly,  had  a  large  family  of  sons  and 
daughters,  the  most  important  of  whom,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
people  of  Corinth,  was  Sisyphos,  reputed  to  be  the  "craftiest 
of  men"  in  so  real  a  sense  that  he  was  even  "as  wise  as  a  god." 
His  gift  of  wisdom  was  at  once  his  profit  and  his  bane.  He  is 
said  to  have  founded  Corinth,  then  called  Ephyra,  "in  a  corner 
of  horse-breeding  Argos,"  and  to  have  seized  the  citadel  as  a 
base  of  operations  for  piracy  and  brigandage;  although,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  statement  is  also  made  that  he  was  merely 
the  royal  successor  of  Korinthos,  or  of  Medeia  after  her  flight 
to  Athens.  His  skill  and  astuteness  are  reflected  in  the  person 
of  Odysseus,  whose  father  he  became,  if  we  are  to  believe  one 
legend,  through  his  violence  to  Antikleia  before  her  marriage 
to  Laerfs,  Odysseus's  traditional  father.  Sisyphos  was  credited 
by  some  with  having  established  the  Isthmian  games  in  honour 
of  Melikertes,  his  nephew,  whose  drowned  body  had  been 
cast  by  the  waves  on  the  shore  of  the  Isthmus. 

The  account  of  his  punishment  in  the  underworld  is  two- 
fold. In  the  less  known  form  it  is  alleged  that  it  was  inflicted 
on  him  for  an  unnatural  act  against  the  daughter  of  his  brother 
Salmoneus.  The  better  known  form  has  more  of  the  character- 
istics of  a  genuine  folk-tale.  Zeus,  conceiving  an  illicit  pas- 
sion for  Aigina,  the  daughter  of  Asopos,  had  seized  her  and 
hidden  her  from  her  father.  Knowing  the  great  wisdom  of 
Sisyphos,  Asopos  came  to  him  and  promised  that  he  would  pro- 
vide the  lofty  hill  of  Akrokorinthos  with  a  spring  of  pure  water, 
if  he  would  tell  him  where  Aigina  was  to  be  found.  Sisyphos 
promptly  disclosed  her  hiding-place  as  the  island  ox  Oinone 
(thereafter  known  as  Aigina),  but  Zeus,  learning  of  tliis  deed 
of  Sisyphos,  in  a  rage  consigned  him  to  Hades  and  bound  Death 


I  If 
If'l 

I 


rn 


38 


GRKKK   AM)   ROMAN    MVnK'I'KA 


about  Ills  nock.  The  wily  Corititliian,  I\..\\(Vi-r,  tmtuil  the 
taMi-.s  on  Death  and  shackled  him  so  effectivtls  that  no  mortal 
on  earth  could  die.  In  the  meantime  .\Ierope,  the  wife  of  Sisy- 
plios,  was  witliholding  from  the  dead  the  libations  customarily 
otFered  to  them,  and  thus  finally  forced  Hades  to  release  her 
husband  and  to  permit  him  to  ascend  to  the  upper  world. 
It  was  Hades'  hope  that  the  husband  and  wife  would  confer 
concerning;  the  renewal  of  the  libations;  but  he  was  destined 
to  be  sadly  disappointed,  for  Sisyphos  for>;ot  to  return  below 
and  remained  in  Corinth  pursuing;  his  former  round  of  toils 
and  pleasures.  Hades  did  not  gain  possession  of  him  until 
he  was  carried  off  by  sheer  old  age,  and  to  prevent  a  r-  :ur- 
rence  of  his  trickery  Hades  imposed  on  him  the  task  at  which 
Odysseus  saw^  him  toilinp  "Yea,  and  I  beheld  Sisyphos  in 
strong  torment,"  said  Odysseus  to  the  Phaiakians,  "grasping  a 
monstrous  stone  with  both  his  hands.  He  was  pressing  thereat 
with  hands  and  feet  and  trying  to  roll  the  stone  upward  toward 
the  brow  of  the  hill.  But  oft  as  he  was  about  to  hurl  it  over  the 
top,  the  weight  would  drive  him  back,  so  once  again  to  the 
plain  rolled  the  stone,  the  shameless  thing.  And  he  once  more 
kept  heaving  and  straining,  and  the  sweat  the  while  w^as  pour- 
ing down  his  limbs,  and  the  dust  rose  upward  from  his  head."  '' 

Many  explanations  of  the  derivation  of  the  name  Sisyphos 
have  been  offered,  but  none  has  any  claim  to  reliability,  the 
most  popular  being  one  that  makes  it  a  reduplication  of  the 
base  of  ao(f>6^  ("wisc").'^  The  significance  of  the  personality 
of  Sisyphos  is  just  as  obscure;  he  has  been  shown  to  be  now 
the  restless  tide,  now  a  god  of  light,  now  a  personification  of 
craftiness;  while  the  stone  is  allegorically  interpreted  as  a 
symbol  of  the  futility  of  human  endeavour. 

Glaukos.  —  Giaukos  of  Potniai,  a  town  of  southern  Boiotia, 
was  said  to  be  the  son  of  Sisyphos  or  of  Poseidon.  He  became 
king  of  Corinth  and  was  famous  for  the  swiftness  of  his  horses 
in  tiie  chariot-races.  In  one  type  of  the  legend  which  concerns 
him  it  is  related  that  his  steeds,  becoming  mad  as  he  was  driv- 


MVrilS  OF  T!IK   PF.LOPONNKSOS 


39 


ing  tlicm  in  the  funeral  gamt-s  of  IVIias,  turned  on  hitn  and  tore 
him  to  pieces.  Causes  of  tlieir  madness  are  variously  given  — 
the  deliberate  act  of  Aphn^lite,  their  drinking  from  a  sacred 
spring,  or  their  eaung  of  a  magic  herb  or  oi  human  flesh.  In 
later  years  when  horses  became  frightened  while  racing  during 
the  Isthmian  games,  people  said  it  was  because  of  the  spirit 
of  (llaukos  which  haunted  the  course.  Another  type  of  the 
legend  says  that  he  met  his  death  in  a  collision  of  chariots  at 
Olympia.  Doubtless  this  (JIaukos  is  a  transplantation  of  the 
Cilaukos  of  Anthedon  in  Boiotia. 

Belli-rnphon.—  By  his  wife,  Eurymede  (or  Eurynome),  Glau- 
kos  begat  a  son  Bcllerophon,  who,  having  shed  the  blood 
of  a  kinsman,  though  unintentionally,  fled  from  his  homeland 
to  the  court  of  Proitos  in  Argos.  There  Queen  Sthcncboia  was 
taken  with  a  shameful  passion  and  made  advances  to  him,  but 
Bcllerophon  Utterly  spurned  her,  whereupon,  full  of  resentment, 
she  slandered  him  before  her  husband,  representing  that  she 
was  the  one  sinned  against  rather  than  the  sinner.'^  Proitos 
believed  her  story  and  sent  Bcllerophon  away  to  the  land  of 
Lykia  across  the  Aegean  Sea,  giving  him  a  letter  to  King  lo- 
bates,  the  father  of  Sthencboia,  requesting  the  monarch  to 
devise  some  means  of  putting  Bellcrophon  out  of  the  way. 
Accordingly  lobates  commissioned  him  to  go  forth  and  kill 
the  Chimaira,  the  issue  of  Typhon  and  Echidna,  a  dire  creature 
part  lion,  part  dragon,  and  part  goat,  which  was  devastating 
the  land  and  with  her  breath  of  fire  was  consuming  all  those 
who  ventured  to  attack  her.  Undaunted  by  the  danger,  Bclle- 
rophon mounted  Pegasos,  the  winged  horse,  flew  high  above  the 
monster,  and  shooting  down  upon  her  laid  her  low,  after  which 
he  returned  unhurt  to  lobates.  Still  determined  to  carry  out 
his  plan,  the  king  sent  him  out  again,  first  against  the  Solymoi, 
and  later  against  the  Amazons,  but  once  more  Bellcrophon 
came  back  unharmed,  having  not  only  accomplished  his  tasks 
but  also  having  slain  a  band  of  young  Lykians  who  had  laid 
in  wait  for  him.   Disarmed  by  admiration,  lobates  now  ceased 


■  14-* 


40  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

his  plotting  against  Bellerophon's  life,  .  '.,  'cvealing  to  him 
the  contents  of  Proitos's  letter,  asked  him  to  take  up  his  abode 
in  Lykia,  which  he  gladly  did.  Later  he  wedded  the  princess 
Philonoe,  and  on  lobates'  death  came  to  the  throne.  Elated 
by  his  successes,  it  is  said,  he  essayed  to  ride  Pegasos  to  heaven, 
but  fell  from  his  mount  at  a  great  height  and  was  killed. 

The  Chimaira  seems  to  have  been  a  storm-divinity  who 
acquired  her  development  in  the  primitive  belief  that  wind- 
storms originate  about  volcanic  heights. 

Of  the  birth  of  Pegasos  we  have  already  spoken.  The  credu- 
lous Hcsiod  tells  us  that  he  derived  his  name  from  having 
been  born  near  the  springs  {irTjyaO^)  of  Okeanos.  It  was 
through  a  miracle  tliat  he  came  into  the  hands  of  Bellerophon, 
for  in  a  dream  Athene  appeared  to  the  young  man  and  gave 
him  a  bridle  which  he  found  at  his  side  when  he  awoke.  In 
gratitude  he  erected  an  altar  to  the  goddess  and  then  ap- 
proached Pegasos,  over  whorr  the  bridle  seemed  to  cast  such 
a  spell  that  the  horse  was  easily  subdued.  Another  story  de- 
scribes Bellerophon  as  finding  Pegasos  drinking  at  the  spring  of 
Peirene  on  the  Akrokorinthos,  and  as  catching  and  mounting 
him  by  main  strength.  After  the  death  of  his  rider,  the  horse, 
being  of  divine  descent,  flew  upward  to  the  ancient  stables  of 
Zeus  where  he  was  harnessed  to  the  thunder-car.  Once  he  re- 
turned to  earth,  the  poets  say,  and  on  Helikon,  the  Boiotian 
mountain  of  the  Muses,  created  the  spring  of  Hippoukrene 
("Horse's  Fount")  with  a  blow  of  his  hoof.  Since  then  he  has 
been  associated  with  the  Muses  and  their  arts. 

The  development  of  Pegasos  as  a  mythological  figure  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting,  and  is  comparatively  easy  to  trace. 
In  the  Homeric  epic  Bellerophon  achieved  his  exploits  without 
him,  but  by  the  time  of  Hesiod  the  two  were  inseparably 
linked,  Pegasos  having  by  that  time  a  general  and  not  merely 
a  local  import  in  myth.  Not  until  Pindar  do  we  find  any  demon- 
strable evidence  of  his  being  endowed  with  wings.  A  theory 
has  been  advanced  to  the  effect  that  his  mythological  growth 


MYTHS  OF  THE  PELOPONNESOS 


41 


was  due  to  the  influences  of  the  winged  horses  of  Assyrian  art 
which  reached  the  Hellenes  through  the  medium  of  the  Phoini- 
kians,  in  which  event  the  rule  that  art  types  tend  to  take  their 
forms  from  myths  would  be  reversed.  Perhaps  Pegasos  origi- 
nally stood  for  the  rain-bearing  clouds  which  rise  to  heaven 
and  bring  the  lightning  and  the  thunder. 

The  Corinthians  had  other  tales  to  explain  the  genesis  of 
their  famous  springs.  Peirene  was  at  first  a  woman  who  was 
changed  into  the  spring  through  the  tears  which  she  shed  for 
her  son  accidentally  slain  by  the  arrows  of  Artemis;  and  the 
spring  into  which  Glauke  threw  herself  to  quench  the  flames 
caused  by  Medeia's  drugs  was  afterward  known  by  her  name. 


CHAPTER    III 
MYTHS   OF   THE   NORTHERN   MAINLAND 

I.   BOIOTIA  AND  EUBOIA 

NEXT  to  Argolis  Boiotia  supplied  the  largest  body  of  lo- 
cally developed  myths;  and  when  we  say  Boiotia  we  must 
understand  the  inclusion  of  Euboia,  for  mythologically  the  two 
are  not  severed  by  the  Strait  of  Euripos.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  however,  that  the  legends  of  the  island  never  attained 
to  that  degree  of  literary  organization  which  has  immortalized 
the  stories  centring,  for  instance,  about  Thebes.  The  oldest 
cults  and  myths  of  both  Euboia  and  Boiotia  can  be  traced 
back  to  Crete,  principally  through  the  formation  of  doubles  of 
the  personages  of  Cretan  legend,  so  that,  for  instance,  the  Eu- 
boian  Arcthousa  was  a  copy  of  a  Cretan  model;  Europe  appears 
in  Boiotia  as  lo,  and  Glaukos  of  Anthedon  duplicates  the  son 
of  Minos.  The  extent  to  which  these  Cretan  importations  were 
changed  by  Phoinikian  and  other  allied  Oriental  influences  is 
one  of  the  many  unsettled  points  of  Greek  mythology,  but  the 
decline  of  the  old  Boiotian  states  and  the  rise  of  Argos  were 
admittedly  responsible  for  a  large  measure  of  modification. 

The  First  Inhabitants  of  Boiotia.  —  After  the  flood  of  Deu- 
kalion,  Zeus,  uniting  with  lodama  ("Healer  of  the  People"), 
a  form  of  Europe,  became  the  father  of  Thebe,  a  spring-nymph 
of  Boiotia,  whom  he  gave  in  marriage  to  Ogygos,  the  autoch- 
thonous king  of  the  Ektenes,  said  to  be  the  first  inhabitants 
of  tlie  land.  When  the  entire  people  of  the  Ektenes  perished 
by  a  plague,  their  country  was  occupied  by  the  Hyantes  and 
the  Aonians,  who  called  it  Aonia.  Later,  however,  the  name 
was  changed  to  Boiotia  after  Boiotos,  the  son  of  Poseidon,  or, 


■i 


\r     i 


PLATE   XV 

DiRKE    Boi'ND    TO    THE    BULL 

The  artists  of  this  group  (popularly  known  as  the 
Farnese  Bull)  have  followed  the  text  of  the  myth  in 
laying  the  scene  of  the  episode  on  Mount  Kithairon, 
which  they  have  not  merely  indicated  by  the  depiction 
of  rocks  and  crags,  but  also  personified  in  the  small 
human  figure  in  the  right  foreground.  Amphion 
(ident;iud  by  his  lyre)  is  striving  with  all  his  strength 
to  subdue  a  powerful  bull  so  that  his  brother  Zethos 
can  pass  a  rope,  attached  to  the  struggling  creature's 
horns,  around  the  body  of  Dirkc.  Their  mother, 
Antiope,  a  complacent  spectator,  stands  lance  in  hand 
in  the  right  background.  From  a  Greco-Roman 
marble  group  by  Apollonios  and  Tauriskos  (end  of 
second  century  B.C.),  in  Naples  (Brunn-Bruckmann, 
Denkm'dler  griechiuher  und  romischer  Sculptur^  No. 
367).     See  pp.  43-44- 


'1  ij 


M\THS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  MAINLAND     43 


as  some  allege,  after  the  cow  (0ow)  which  Kadmos  followed  to 
the  site  of  Thebes.  With  certain  allowances,  the  latter  deriv'a- 
tion  is  probably  nearer  the  truth  than  the  other. 

Amphion  and  Zethos.  —  The  story  of  Amphion  and  Zcthos, 
though  woven  into  that  of  Kadmos,  is  in  origin  independent  of 
it  and  is  therefore  better  told  separately.  Antiope,  the  mother 
of  these  heroes,  was  reputed  to  be  the  daughter  of  Asopos,  the 
river-god,  or  of  Nykteus  ("Night").  Charmed  by  the  atten- 
tions of  Zeus,  she  yielded  herself  to  him,  but  when  her  father 
became  aware  of  her  condition  she  fled  to  Sikyon,  where  she 
became  the  wife  of  a  certain  Epopeus.  Nykteus,  overwhelmed 
with  the  disgrace  which  his  daughter  had  brought  upon  him, 
took  his  own  life  after  first  requesting  his  brother  Lykos 
("Light")  to  punish  Antiope  and  her  husband.  When  some 
time  had  elapsed  Lykos  proceeded  to  Sikyon,  slew  Epopeus, 
and  brought  his  niece  a  captive  to  Thebes.  On  the  homeward 
journey,  however,  she  gave  birth  to  twin  sons,  whom  she  ex- 
posed on  the  mountain-side  where  they  were  afterward  found 
by  a  shepherd  who  reared  them  to  manhood,  one  of  them, 
Zethos,  becoming  a  herdsman  and  hunter,  and  the  other, 
Amphion,  a  skilled  player  on  the  lyre.  In  the  meantime  Lykos 
and  his  wife  Dirke  cruelly  maltreated  Antiope,  but  by  a  des- 
perate eflfort  she  succeeded  in  escaping  from  Thebes  and 
made  her  way  to  the  fastnesses  of  Mount  Kithairon,  where 
she  was  hospitably  received  by  her  own  sons,  who,  of  course, 
failed  to  recognize  her.  By  chance  Dirke,  coming  to  the  moun- 
tain to  perform  some  rites  to  Dionysos,  discovered  Antiope 
and  in  vindictive  fury  commanded  the  shepherds  to  tie  her  to 
a  mad  bull  which,  when  loosed,  would  carry  her  to  a  horrible 
death.  Just  in  time  Amphion  and  Zethos  learned  that  the 
unhappy  woman  was  their  mother.  Catching  the  bull,  they  re- 
leased Antiope  and  bound  Dirke  by  the  hair  in  her  place,  after- 
ward picking  up  the  mangled  body  and  casting  it  into  a  spring 
which  has  borne  Dirke's  name  ever  since.  The  young  men 
then  went  to  Thebes,  killed  Lykos,  took  the  chief  authority, 


■ 


y 


44  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

and  built  the  walls  of  the  city,  Amphion  charming  the  stones 
into  their  places  by  means  of  the  sweet  strains  of  his  lyre,  the 
gift  of  the  Muses. 

According  to  one  account,  Zethos  married  Thebe,  from  whom 
the  city  got  its  name;  but  according  to  another,  his  wife  was 
Aedon,  who  bore  him  a  son  Itylos,  whom,  by  a  mere  chance, 
she  killed.  Overcome  by  grief,  Zethos  pined  away  and  died, 
while  Aedon  was  given  the  form  of  the  nightingale  and  endowed 
with  those  plaintive  notes  with  which  she  may  yet  be  heard 
mourning  for  her  son's  untimely  death.  Amphion  became  the 
husband  of  Niobe,  the  daughter  of  Tantalos,  and  a  family  of 
many  sons  and  daughters  blessed  their  union.  In  her  maternal 
pride  Niobe  boasted  that  she,  a  mortal,  had  brought  into  the 
world  more  children  than  Leto,  and  this  so  incensed  Leto's 
children,  Apollo  and  Anemis,  that  Apollo  slew  the  sons  of 
Niobe  as  they  were  hunting  on  Kithairon,  while  Artemis  killed 
the  daughters  beneath  their  mother's  roof.  Niobe  fled  from 
Thebes  to  her  father  in  Asia  Minor,  and  there 

"...  fur  her  sons'  death  wept  out  life  and  breath 
And,  dry  with  grief,  was  turned  into  a  stone."  ' 

What  is  said  to  be  her  form  is  still  to  be  seen  on  the  cliffs  of 
Mount  Sipylos. 

Kadmos.  —  Agenor,  a  great-grandson  of  lo,  established  him- 
self in  Phoinikia,  where  he  had  a  daughter  named  Europe,  whom 
Zeus  one  day  carried  away  to  Crete  by  force.  On  her  disap- 
pearance Agenor  sent  his  wife  and  sons  throughout  the  neigh- 
bouring lands  in  quest  of  her  and  ordered  them  no:  to  return 
without  her,  but  all  failed  in  their  errand,  and,  fearful  of 
Agenor's  anger,  they  resolved  never  to  go  back  home,  Phoinix 
settling  in  a  district  of  Phoinikia,  Ki'ix  in  Kilikia,  and  Thasos, 
Kadmos,  and  their  mother  Telephassa  in  Thrace.  After  the 
death  of  Telephassa,  Kadmos  felt  free  to  continue  his  search 
for  Europe,  and  going  to  Dclphoi  he  inquired  of  the  oracle 
concerning  her.    The  god  commanded  him  to  cease  worrying 


MYTHS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  MAINLAND     45 

over  his  sister  and  to  turn  his  thoughts  into  another  channel, 
bidding  him  to  follow  a  heifer  which  he  would  find  outside  the 
shrine  and  to  establish  a  city  on  the  spot  where  she  would  first 
lie  down  to  rest.  In  obedience  to  the  divine  command  Kadmos 
journeyed  after  the  animal  across  Phokis  until  at  length  she 
sought  repose  beside  a  hill  in  the  heart  of  Boiotia,  and  there 
he  founded  Thebes. 

Desiring  to  sacrifice  the  cow  to  Athene,  Kadmos  dispatched 
a  number  of  his  men  to  draw  water  for  the  rites  from  the  spring 
Areia,  but  most  of  them  were  killed  by  the  dragon,  the  issue  of 
Ares,  which  guarded  the  water,  whereupon  Kadmos  himself 
slew  the  beast  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Athene  scattered  the 
teeth  broadcast  over  the  earth  as  a  farmer  strews  his  grain. 
From  the  teeth  sprang  a  host  of  armed  men  who  were  called 
Spartoi  ("Scattered")  from  the  strange  manner  of  their  birth. 
At  the  sight  of  these  warriors  suddenly  gathering  about  him, 
Kadmos  was  stricken  with  fear  and  began  to  hurl  stones  at 
them;  and  they,  thinking  that  the  missiles  were  thrown  by 
their  fellows,  murderously  set  upon  one  another  until  only 
five  of  them  were  left  alive.  For  his  part  in  this  tragedy  Kad- 
mos was  bound  in  servitude  to  Ares  for  eight  years,  but  at  the 
end  of  this  period  Athene  bestowed  the  kingship  upon  him  and 
with  the  surviving  Spartoi  he  began  to  build  up  the  city  of 
Thebes.  Zeus  gave  him  in  marriage  Harmonia,  the  daughter 
of  Ares  and  Aphrodite,  and  all  the  gods  came  down  from 
Olympos  to  attend  the  nuptials  and  brought  with  them  rare 
and  costly  gifts,  Kadmos's  own  presents  to  his  bride  being  a 
robe  and  the  necklace,  wrought  originally  by  Hephaistos,  which 
Zeus  had  formerly  given  to  Europe.  To  Kadmos  and  Harmonia 
were  born  a  son,  Polydoros,  and  four  daughters,  Semele,  Ino, 
Agave,  and  Autonoe. 

The  Daughters  of  Kadmos;  Semele.  —  Having  won  the  favour 
and  love  of  Zeus,  Semele  secured  from  him  a  promise  that  he 
would  grant  her  whatever  she  might  ask,  and  prompted  by 
Hera  who  appeared  before  her  in  the  guise  of  her  nurse,  she 


w 


(i! 


ii 


11 


I 


46 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  NnTMOLOCY 


requested  that  her  lover  would  show  himself  to  her  in  the  form 
in  which  he  had  paid  court  to  Hera.  Bound  by  his  promise, 
the  Olympian  entered  her  chamber  in  a  chariot  amid  the 
flasliinj;  of  ii^'litnin^  and  the  roaring  of  thunder,  but,  being  a 
mortal,  Semele  could  not  endure  this  terrible  wooing  and  died. 
From  her  body  Zeus  tcKik  their  unborn  child  and  sewed  it  in 
his  thigh,  where  it  remained  for  three  months,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  loosed  the  stitches  and  brought  it  forth  to  the 
liplit.  The  child,  who  was  none  other  than  the  god  Dionysos, 
was  entrusted  to  Ino  and  her  husband  Athamas,  a  son  of  Aiolos, 
to  be  reared.  For  their  care  of  him  the  vindictive  Hera  visited 
on  them  a  plague  of  madness,  but  Zeus  saved  Dionysos  by 
changing  him  into  a  kid  and  st  .ctly  conveying  him  to  the 
nymphs  of  .Mount  Nysa  in  Asia,  who  in  after  years  were  re- 
warded with  a  place  among  the  constellations  under  the  name 
of  the  Hyades. 

Ino.  —  When  the  madness  came  upon  Athamas  he  imagined 
that  his  elder  son  Learchos  was  a  deer  and  killed  him,  while 
Ino,  with  their  younger  son  Melikertes  in  her  arms,  leaped 
from  the  Molourian  rocks  into  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Megara. 
The  body  of  the  child  was  washed  ashore  at  the  Isthmus,  and 
the  Isthmian  games  were  instituted  in  his  honour  by  Sisyphos. 
After  their  death  both  mother  and  son  used  to  give  aid  to  those 
endangered  by  storms  at  sea,  and  sailors  knew  the  one  as 
Leukothca,  the  "White  Sea-Spirit,"  and  the  other  as  Palaimon, 
the  "  Storm-Lord." 

Aiitono'e.  —  Autonoe  was  married  to  Aristaios  and  bore  him 
a  son  -Aktaion  ("Gleaming  One")  who,  under  the  training  of 
Chciron,  the  Centaur,  became  an  ardent  huntsman.  One  day 
when  engaged  in  the  chase  on  Kithairon  he  chanced  to  see  the 
goddess  Artemis  bathing  in  the  spring  Parthenios  ("Maiden- 
hood"), but  as  soon  as  the  goddess  discovered  his  presence 
she  changed  him  into  a  stag  and  instilling  madness  into  his 
fifty  hounds  sent  them  in  hot  pursuit  of  him.  They  caught  him 
and  rent  him  in  pieces.  Then,  not  knowing  what  they  had  done, 


MYTHS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  MAINLAND     47 


fi£ 


they  wandered  over  hill  and  'ale  searching  for  their  master 
and  found  satisfaction  only  when  they  saw  his  portrait  before 
the  cave  of  Cheiron. 

Agave.  —  The  remaining  daughter  of  Kadmos,  Agave,  be- 
came the  wife  of  Echion,  one  of  the  Spurtoi,  arid  bore  to  him  a 
son  Pentheus,  who  in  the  course  of  time  received  the  kingship 
of  Thebes.  During  his  reign  Dionysos  returned  to  Thebes  after 
a  long  period  of  wandering  in  many  lands  of  the  east  whither 
he  had  been  driven  by  a  frenzy  which  Hera  had  infficied  on  him 
for  his  discovery  of  the  vi  e,  and  so  great  a  power  over  the 
women  of  Thebes  did  the  god  come  to  possess  that  they  all 
left  their  homes  and  betook  themseK  es  to  Kithairon  to  cele- 
brate his  rites.  Pentheus  treated  this  "barbarous  dissonance 
of  Bacchus  and  his  revellers"  with  the  utmost  contempt,  until, 
rashly  approaching  ..he  women  votaries,  he  got  a  glimpse  of 
his  mother  performing  some  secret  ceremony,  whereupon,  with 
vision  distorted  by  a  sort  of  divine  frenzy,  she  mistook  him 
for  a  deer,  and,  rushing  upon  him,  tore  him  asunder. 

Sorrowing  over  the  evils  which  had  befallen  their  family, 
Kadmos  and  Harmonia  abdicated  the  throne  and  wit!  Irew  to 
the  land  of  the  Iliyrians.  By  force  of  arms  they  ruled  among 
these  people  for  a  time  and  were  then  sent  by  Zeus  to  live  for- 
ever in  the  Elysian  Fields,  while  their  son  Polydoros  remained 
at  Thebes  wielding  his  father's  sceptre. 

The  chief  import  of  the  legend  of  Amphion  and  Zethos  is 
that  it  affords  evidence  of  the  great  antiquity  of  Thebes. 
Even  at  the  remotely  early  time  of  the  legend's  creation  men 
had  utterly  forgotten  the  circumstances  of  the  building  of  the 
city's  defences,  else  this  would  never  have  been  explained  by 
the  miraculous  power  of  a  lyre.  That  the  story  of  Kadmos  con- 
tains anything  of  genuine  historical  value  is  far  fi'om  receiving 
general  assent.  Some  read  in  it  the  substantially  true  account 
of  the  actual  settlement  of  Thebes  by  Phoinikians  who  came 
thither  direct  from  Phoinikia.  Others  maintain  th.^^  on  •  le 
contrary,  no  sea-faring  folk  would  have  founded  a  city  situated 


r 


i'P 


m 


48 


GRKEK  AND  ROMAN  M\TnOLOGY 


as  far  inland  as  was  Thebes;  moreover,  they  point  out  that  the 
Phoinikian  theor>'  was  unkn<.>wn  in  Cireck  literature  before  the 
fifth  century  B.C.  Those  who  occupy  a  middle  ground  arc 
probably  closer  to  the  actual  facts;  they  bilieve  that  at  some 
very  eaily  date  Thebes  had  extensive  connexions  with  Phoi- 
nikians,  but  lluy  cannot  accept  them  as  primitive.'  The 
lejfend  of  Melikertes  seems  to  have  grown  up  about  the  cult 
of  tne  drowned,  but  the  interpretation  of  others  of  this  group 
of  myths  will  be  more  appropriately  discussed  elsewhere.' 

Till-  Sorro:!s  of  the  House  uj  Lahdakos;  Oidipous.  —  When 
Polydoro,-.  died,  he  left  a  son  Labdakos  who  was  killed  shortly 
after  he  became  king,  some  people  believing  him  to  have  been 
slain  by  a  god  for  much  the  same  kind  of  sin  as  that  of  which 
Penthcus  had  been  guilty.  His  son  Laios  was  banished  from 
the  realm  by  Amphion,  but  on  Amphion's  death  he  returned  to 
assume  his  inherited  rights.  Dreadful  calamities  awaited  him 
and  his  descendants,  for  he  was  under  a  curse  —  and  to  the 
ancients  curses  were  as  inevitable  as  the  decrees  of  Fate. 
During  his  exile  he  had  carried  off  Chrysippos,  the  son  of  Pelops, 
and  Pelops  had  solemnly  cursed  him  with  childlessness,  or, 
should  he  have  a  child,  with  death  at  the  child's  hand.  As 
ruler  of  Thebes  he  married  lokaste  (Epikaste),  the  daughter  of 
Menoikeus,  who  brought  him  a  son,  thus  foiling  the  first  al- 
ternative of  Pelops's  curse.  In  order  to  avert  the  second  the 
parents  pierced  the  babe's  ankles  and  gave  him  to  a  herdsman 
to  be  exposed  in  the  wilds  of  Kithairon,  but  it  happened  that 
he  was  found  by  a  shepherd  of  King  Polybos  of  Corinth  who 
took  him  to  the  queen,  Periboia. 

The  child,  who  was  called  Oidipous  ("Swollen  Foot")  from 
the  swollen  condition  of  his  ankles,  grew  to  manhood  in  the 
court  of  Corinth,  where  he  was  the  strongest  and  most  ath- 
letic of  the  youths  of  his  circle  and  aroused  the  envy  of  many, 
who  thus  found  occasion  to  taunt  him  with  his  uncertain  birth. 
The  innuendoes  perplexed  him,  and  being  unable  to  induce 
Periboia  to  throw  any  light  on  the  matter  of  his  parentage, 


% 


*,  ■ 


PLATE    XVI 

The   Death  of  Pentheus 

The  artist  has  been  true  to  the  Thcban  myth  in 
making  the  rocky  summit  of  Kithairon  the  theatre  of 
this  tragedy.  Pentheus,  nude  and  defenceless,  is  being 
beaten  to  the  ground  by  the  onslaught  of  three  wild 
votaries  of  Dionysos,  evidently  the  surviving  daughters 
of  Kadmos  — Agave,  Ino,  and  Autonoe.  The  fiercest 
of  the  three  who  attacks  Pentheus  with  a  thyrsos  and 
tears  out  his  hair,  is  probably  Agave,  his  unnatural 
mother,  but  the  other  two  cannot  be  definitely  dis- 
tinguished by  name.  In  the  upper  corners  of  the 
background  are  two  Maenads  brandishing  whips  and 
torches.  From  a  wall-painting  in  the  House  of  the 
Vettii,  Pompeii  (Hermann-Bruckmann,  DtnkmaUr  dir 
Maltrei  dis  Jltertums,  No.  42).      See  p.  47, 


MYTHS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  MAINLAND     49 


he  repaired  to  Dclphoi  and  made  inquiry  of  the  oracle,  which 
warned  him  never  to  enter  his  native  country,  else  he  would 
kill  his  father  and  marry  his  mother.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
returning  to  Corinth  and  to  his  supposed  parents,  Oidipous 
harnessed  his  car  and  drove  eastward  through  Phokis.  On  a 
narrow  road  he  met  Laios,  his  real  father,  to  whom  the  royal 
herald  bade  him  yield  place.  For  his  refusal  one  of  his  horses 
was  cut  down,  and  in  retaliation  Oidipous  killed  Laios  and  the 
herald,  after  which  he  proceeded  on  his  way  to  Thebes. 

When  the  news  of  the  death  of  Laios  came  to  the  city, 
Kreon,  the  brother  of  lokaste,  was  appointed  king.  During  his 
reign  a  great  disaster  came  upon  Thebes,  for  Hera  sent  the 
Sphinx,  another  of  the  horrible  issue  of  Typhon  and  Echidna, 
to  destroy  the  citizens.  This  monster  had  the  face  of  a  woman, 
the  body  and  feet  and  tail  of  a  lion,  and  the  wings  of  a  bird; 
and  her  strange  weapon  of  destruction  was  a  riddle  which  she 
would  put  to  passers-by,  devouring  those  who  failed  to  give 
the  right  answer.  The  riddle  was  this:  "What  is  it  which,  hav- 
ing but  one  voice,  is  first  four-footed,  then  two-footed,  and  is 
at  the  last  three-footed.'"  After  many  had  perished  in  their 
unfortunate  attempts  to  solve  the  riddle,  Kreon  proclaimed  that 
the  wife  and  the  kingdom  of  Laios  would  be  given  to  the  one 
who  should  succeed.  To  the  question  of  the  Sphinx  Oidipous 
replied:  "The  creature  is  man,  for  in  infancy  he  crawls  on  all 
fours,  in  mature  years  he  walks  upright  on  two  feet,  and  in 
old  age  goes  as  it  were  on  three  by  the  aid  of  a  cane."  When 
she  heard  these  words,  the  Sphinx  cast  herself  down  from  the 
cliffs,  and  Oidipous  received  the  promised  rewards.  At  last  he 
had  fulfilled  the  two  conditions  of  the  oracle. 

For  many  years  the  life  and  reign  of  Oidipous  were  happy, 
and  through  his  marriage  with  lokaste  he  had  two  sons,  Poly- 
neikes  and  Eteokles,  and  two  daughters,  Antigone  and  Ismene. 
At  length,  however,  pestilence  and  famine  wasted  both  land 
and  people,  and  when  the  oracles  were  consulted,  their  answers 
revealed  his  blood  relationship  to  his  queen.  Though  their  sin 


4  I' 


t  - 

r 

■  ii      ■■ 

^^^^■Kt 

:     Sfi^flj^pa 

so 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   .\nTHOLOGY 


haJ  been  committed  in  ignorance,  lokaste  hanged  herself,  in 
the  anguish  of  remorse,  and  Oidipous  put  out  his  own  eyes. 
The  Thebans  banished  him  from  their  city,  and  as  he  departed 
his  sons  made  no  effort  either  to  help  him  or  to  defend  him. 
For  this  base  ingratitude  he  called  down  bitter  curses  on  their 
heads  from  which  tlie\'  were  thenceforward  to  suffer;  for  the 
curses  of  parents  on  children  were  the  direst  of  all.  With  the 
faithful  Antigone  he  went  to  Kolonos  in  Attikc,  where  he  be- 
came a  suppliant  at  the  shrine  of  the  Eumenidcs,  the  avenging 
spirits  of  the  dead.  Theseus  of  Athens  welcomed  him  and  af- 
forded him  a  home  in  which  to  end  his  days  in  peace.  After  a 
number  of  days  Ismene  joined  the  two  exiles.  When  Oidipous 
knew  that  his  end  was  near,  he  called  his  daughters  to  his  side 
to  perform  for  him  the  last  rites  for  the  dying,  and,  taking  them 
tenderly  in  his  arms,  he  said: 

"My  children,  on  this  day  ye  cease  to  have 
A  father.   All  my  days  are  spent  and  gone, 
And  ye  no  more  shall  lead  your  wretched  life, 
Carinjr  for  me.    Hard  was  it,  that  I  know. 
My  children!  Vet  one  word  is  strong  to  loose, 
Although  alone,  the  burden  of  these  toils. 
For  love  in  larger  store  ye  could  not  have 
From  any  than  from  him  who  standeth  here. 
Of  whom  bereaved  ye  now  shall  live  your  life."  * 

After  uttering  these  words  he  passed  away,  another  victim  of 
the  far-reaching  curse  of  Pelops. 

The  friends  of  Oidipous  desired  to  bur>'  his  body  in  Thebes, 
but  the  Thebans,  remembering  the  sufferings  brought  upon 
them  by  the  much-cursed  dynasty  of  Laios,  forbade  them  to 
do  so.  They  interred  it,  however,  in  another  place  in  Boiotia, 
but  when  this,  too,  became  afflicted  with  calamities,  its  citi- 
zens ordered  the  removal  of  the  corpse.  Taking  it  to  Eteonos, 
the  friends  ignorantly  laid  it  in  a  shrine  of  Demeter.  When 
the  people  of  the  locality  discovered  this,  they  inquired  of  the 
goddess  what  they  should  do,  and  received  the  reply:  "Remove 
not  the  suppliant  of  the  god."   So  they  left  the  bones  of  Oidi- 


MYTHS  OF  THE  NORTHERN   MAINLAND     51 

pous  where  they  were  and  gave  the  shrine  the  new  name  of 
OidipoJeion,  a  name  which  distinguished  it  for  centuries. 

The  Sons  of  Oidipous,  and  the  Seven  against  Thebes.  —  After 
the  banishment  of  Oidipous  Krcon  became  regent  for  the  youth- 
ful princes,  Polyneikes  and  Etcokies.  As  soon  as  they  took  the 
power  into  their  own  hands,  they  determined  on  an  arrangement 
by  which  they  would  rule  singly  in  alternate  years,  but  this 
agreement,  like  all  of  its  kind,  was  not  proof  against  the  great 
weakness  of  the  human  heart,  the  lust  for  autocratic  dominion. 
Eteokles,  it  is  said,  refused  to  relinquish  his  authority  at  the 
end  of  a  term,  and  a  bitter  feud  resulted,  the  consequence  being 
that  Polyneikes  was  exiled  and  went  to  Argos,  taking  with  him 
the  wedding-robe  and  necklace  of  Harmonia,  which  had  ap- 
parently become  the  symbols  of  the  kingship  in  Thebes.  In 
Argos  he  met  Tydeus  of  Aitolia,  also  an  exile  from  his  native 
land,  and,  impelled  by  the  combative  spirit  which  marked  the 
family  of  Laios,  engaged  him  in  a  duel.  Adrastos,  the  king  of 
Argos,  hearing  the  noise  of  the  conflict  came  out  of  his  palace 
to  learn  what  it  might  mean,  and  seeing  that  the  shield  of  one 
of  the  combatants  bore  the  device  of  a  boar's  head  while  that 
of  the  other  was  marked  with  a  lion,  he  recognized  the  fulfil- 
ment of  a  prophecy  which  had  said  that  he  would  marry  his 
two  daughters  to  a  boar  and  a  lion.  So  he  made  Polyneikes 
and  Tydeus  his  sons-in-law  and  pledged  them  his  aid  in  restor- 
ing them  to  their  kingdoms.  One  form  of  the  story  relates  that 
Polyneikes  had  left  Thebes  of  his  own  free  will  in  order  to  avoid 
the  consequences  of  his  father's  curses,  and  that  he  returned 
later  at  Eteokles'  request  when  word  of  the  death  of  Oidipous 
reached  Thebes.  It  was  then,  this  version  states,  that  the 
quarrel  began  which  resulted  in  the  expulsion  of  Polyneikes 
and  in  his  affiliation  with  Adrastos. 

Adrastos,  planning  first  of  all  to  restore  Polyneikes  to  his 
rights,  called  the  chieftains  and  warriors  of  the  land  to  his 
colours.    Among  those  summoned  was  Amphiaraos  ("Doubly 

Holy"),  but,  inasmuch  as  he  was  a  seer,  he  foresaw  the  ultimate 
1  —  8 


I 


i 


52 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


failure  of  the  expedition  and  the  death  of  all  its  leaders,  and 
refused  to  go.  Polyneikes,  however,  had  learned  of  a  pact 
between  him  and  Adrastos  to  decide  all  their  mutual  difTerences 
by  an  appeal  to  Hripiiyle,  the  wife  of  Aniphiaraos,  and  taking 
advanta^'e  of  tiie  feminine  love  of  personal  adornment  he  gave 
her  the  necklace  of  Harmonia  and  beguiled  her  to  decide  in 
favour  of  her  husband's  adherence  ti>  the  cause  of  Adrastos. 
Full  of  re;.entment  at  being  thus  forced  to  join  the  expedition, 
Amphiaraos  before  his  departure  enjoined  his  sons  to  slay  their 
mc-thcr  and  avenge  his  inevitable  death. 

The  arn. ,  -et  out  under  Adrastos  and  seven  generals,  one  of 
whom  was  f'olyni-ikes.  On  their  way  they  halted  at  Nemea  to 
obtain  water,  and  tiiere  Hypsipyle,  a  slave  woman  of  King 
Lyk(.urgos,  left  the  ruler's  infant  son  whom  she  was  tending 
and  iid  tiiem  to  a  spring.  While  she  was  gone  a  serpent  killed 
the  child,  and  Anipliiaraos  declared  that  this  portended  how  the 

■m>'  would  fare.     Burying  the  infant's  body,  the  Argives  in- 
ituicd  the  \cmean  ganus  at  his  grave,  and  ever  afterward 

rhf  solrmn  funereal  origin  of  the  games  was  kept  before  the 

id  by  the  dun-colored  raiment  worn  by  the  umpires  and  em- 

-'hisizevi  by  the  cypress  grove  which  in  antiquity  surrounded 

•>f  Temple."  '' 
Marching  to  the  walls  of  Thebes,  Adrastos  sent  a  herald  to 

-cmand  'hat  Eteokles  hand  over  the  kingdom  to  his  brother 
ordir     to  their  airreement.   Meeting  with  refusal,  he  divided 
ho  ■      to  .seven  parts  under  the  seven  leaders  and  stationed 
each  out-  of  the  seven  great  gates  of  the  city,  within 

whic  I'luban  army  was  similarly  arranged.    Before  giving 

h.^;^!-  l-.Uokics  inquired  of  the  blind  seer,  Teiresias,  what  the 
fon  of  war  would  be,  and  when  the  answer  was  given  that 

if  Kreon's  son,  Menoikeus,  were  to  sacrifice  himself  to  Ares, 
the  Thcban  arms  would  be  victorious,  the  young  man,  with 
noble  devotion,  killed  himself  before  the  city.  Nevertheless, 
victory  did  not  com.e  immediately  to  the  Thebans,  since  they 
were  compelled  to  retire  l:)efore  the  enemy  within  the  forti- 


M^THS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  MAINLAND     53 


fications.  One  of  the  Argivc  leaders,  Kapaneus,  in  the  ardour 
of  pursuit  attempted  to  scale  the  walls  by  means  of  a  ladder, 
but  for  his  temerity  Zeus  struck  him  down  with  a  thunderbolt. 
This  was  th  beginning  of  the  Argive  rout  and  slaughter. 
When  many  had  been  slain,  both  sides  agreed  that  the  fate  of 
the  city  should  be  determined  by  a  duel  between  Polyneikes 
and  Eteoklcs.  They  fought,  but  since  they  killed  one  another, 
they  left  the  city's  future  still  uncertain.  After  this  the  fight- 
ing became  irregular  and  promiscuous,  fortune  steadily  going 
against  the  Argivcs  until,  at  last,  of  all  their  commanders  Ad- 
rastos  alone  survived,  he  owing  his  escape  not  to  his  skill  but 
to  the  speed  of  his  divinely  born  horse  Areion.  Amphiaraos 
had  been  pursued  by  one  of  the  enemy,  but  before  a  missile 
could  strike  him  he  had  been  swallowed  up  in  the  earth,  chariot, 
horses,  driver,  and  all,  and  was  granted  immortality,  while  on 
the  spot  where  he  disappeared  the  city  of  Harma  ("Chariot") 
was  founded. 

With  the  death  of  Eteokles  Kreon  assumed  the  powers  of 
king,  and  from  his  palace  he  sent  out  a  decree  that  the  bodies 
of  the  fallen  foes  of  Thebes  should  be  left  without  due  funeral 
rites.  This  placed  Antigone,  the  sister  of  Polyneikes,  in  a  griev- 
ous dilemma.  To  forego  the  rites  would  mean  that  her  brother's 
soul  would  forever  suffer  in  unrest  and  would  haunt  the  places 
and  persons  it  had  known  in  life;  on  the  other  hand,  to  perform 
these  ceremonies  would  be  disloyalty  to  the  state.  Guided  by 
the  law  of  the  gods,  she  defied  the  law  of  the  king,  and  gave 
rest  to  her  brother's  .soul.  Kreon  had  her  seized  and  sealed  alive 
in  a  cavern,  despite  the  pleadings  of  her  betrothed  lover,  his 
own  son  Haimon.  Under  the  denunciations  of  Teiresias,  the 
king  repented  of  his  deed,  but  it  was  tot)  late!  W'hen  the  cavern 
was  opened,  Antigone  was  already  dead,  and  at  the  entrance 
lay  the  body  of  Haimon,  slain  by  his  own  hand.  At  the  news  of 
the  tragedy  Eurydike,  the  queen,  hanged  herself,  and  Kreon 
was  left  alone  in  life,  a  victim  partly  of  his  own  obstinacy  and 
partly  of  the  curse  of  Pelops. 


Ir 


i!  . 


54 


GREEK  AND  ROXUN  MYTHOLOGY 


Adrastos,  too,  felt  the  same  burden  of  duty  to  his  dead  that 
weighed  upon  Antigone.  Unable  to  secure  the  bodies  of  the 
Argives  owing  to  Krcon's  mandate,  he  called  Theseus  of 
Athens  to  his  aid,  and  an  Athenian  army,  capturing  Thebes, 
secured  the  Argivc  dead.  As  the  body  of  Kapaneus  lay  on  the 
pyre,  his  wife  Evadne  threw  herself  into  the  flames  and  was 
consumed  with  her  husband. 

The  Epigonoi.  —  .\fter  ten  years  the  sons  of  the  seven  Argive 
generals  marshalled  another  host  against  Thebes  to  avenge 
the  death  of  their  fathers.  They  were  known  in  story  as  the 
Epigonoi,  or  "Later-Born,"  and  the  oracle  of  Apollo  foretold 
that  victory  would  rest  with  them  if  they  could  obtain  Alk- 
maion,  the  son  of  Amphiaraos,  as  leader.  Thersandros,  the 
son  of  Polyneikes,  repeated  his  father's  strategy,  and  by  means 
of  Harmonia's  robe  bribed  Eriphyle  to  enlist  her  son's  aid. 
Under  Alkmaion  the  army  marched  to  Thebes,  sacked  the  sur- 
rounding villages,  and  drove  the  city's  defenders  back  behind 
their  walls.  Counselled  by  Teiresias  that  defence  was  fruitless, 
the  Thebans  evacuated  the  city  with  their  wives  and  children, 
and  founded  the  new  city  of  Hestiaia,  while  the  conquering 
Argivcs  entered  the  gates,  razed  the  walls,  and  collecting  the 
booty  gave  the  best  portion  of  it  to  the  Delphian  Apollo,  the 
patron  of  their  victory. 

Alkn^aion.  —  Alkmaion  was  now  free  to  carry  out  his  father's 
last  request,  but  hesitating  to  do  so  horrible  a  deed  he  sought 
the  advice  of  Apollo,  who  bade  him  not  to  stay  his  hand. 
Feeling  that  he  had  right  on  his  side,  he  slew  Eriphyle,  his 
mother,  perhaps  with  the  aid  of  his  brother  Amphilochos,  but 
forthwith  an  avenging  Erinys,  or  Fury,  began  to  hound  him 
and  soon  drove  him  mad,  so  that  he  wandered  from  place  to 
place  until  at  last  he  came  to  the  home  of  Phegeus  in  Psophis, 
by  whom  he  was  purified  of  the  guilt  of  shedding  kindred  blood. 
Later  on  he  received  Phegeus's  daughter  ArsincK'  in  marriage, 
giving  her  the  fatal  robe  and  necklace  of  Harmonia,  but  it 
turned  out  that    his  purification  was   not  complete,   for  his 


,( 


I 


PLATE    XVII 

The  Depakturk  of  Amphiaraos 

Amphiaraos,  fully  armed,  is  reluctantly  mounting 
his  chariot  beside  his  driver,  Baton,  who  stands  reins 
in  hand  ready  to  urge  his  four  horses  forward.  Around 
the  chariot  and  the  horses  the  kinsfolk  and  friends 
of  the  seer  are  gathered  to  bid  him  farewell.  By  the 
outside  column  of  the  palace  fayade  to  the  left  standi 
Kriphvlc  holding  the  fatal  necklace.  The  boy  seated 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  woman  in  front  of  her  and 
the  other  bov  dose  to  Amphiaraos  arc  probably  Alk- 
maion  and  Amphilochos,  who  later  avenged  their 
father's  untimely  death.  From  a  Corinthian  iratcr  of 
about  600  B.C.,  in  Berim  (Furtwiingler-Reichhold, 
Gritchisthf  I'usenmalerei,  No.  I  21).      See  pp.  51-52. 


a 


MICROCOPY    RESOIUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  and  ISO  TEST   CHART  No     2 


1.0 


iM     III  2.5 


in     12.2 


I.I 


;:  1^ 

!:  1^    II  2.0 

mil  1.8 


L25  III  U    III  I 


^     APPLIED   IM/1GE     Inc 


MYTHS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  MAINLAND     55 

presence  brought  sterility  to  the  soil  of  Psophis.  Banished  from 
there,  he  roamed  about  until  he  reached  the  sources  of  the  river 
Acheloos,  where  he  was  cleansed  once  and  for  all  and  wedded 
to  Kalliroe,  the  daughter  of  Acheloos.  After  some  years  of 
marriage  his  wife  refused  to  live  longer  with  him  unless  he 
w  uld  get  for  her  the  famous  robe  and  necklace,  and  to  gratify 
her  whim  he  set  out  to  secure  them  by  craft  from  his  former 
wife,  but  was  waylaid  and  killed  by  her  brothers.  His  death 
was  soon  avenged,  for  his  and  Kalliroes'  sons,  Amphoteros  and 
Akarnan,  came  to  Psophis,  slew  Phegeus  and  his  family,  and 
after  depositing  the  wedding-gifts  with  the  god  of  Delphoi, 
proceeded  westward  and  founded  the  country  to  be  known 
after  one  of  them  as  Akarnania. 

The  collective  substance  of  this  series  of  myths  concerning 
the  house  of  Labdakos  apparently  points  to  a  historic  fact  that 
the  early  period  of  Thebes'  existence  was  marked  by  a  number 
of  disturbances  and  calamities  in  the  ruling  families.  The 
interpretations  of  the  sundry  details  are  so  numerous  and  con- 
flicting that  one  cannot  treat  of  them  adequately  here.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  the  most  modern  school  tends  more  and  more  to 
explain  them  as  based  on  fact.  For  instance,  this  school  would 
say  that  the  Sphinx  stands  for  a  league  of  pirates  and  brigands 
who  harassed  Thebes  and  threatened  its  very  existence  until 
crushed  by  some  Theban  leader;  and  it  would  also  take  Pau- 
sanias  at  his  word  when  he  says  that  he  saw  all  seven  of  the 
ancient  gates,  although  he  describes  only  three  of  them.*^ 

II.  AITOLIA 

The  Founding  of  Aitolia.  —  Endymion,  the  grandson  of 
Aiolos,  led  the  Aiolians  from  Thessaly  and  established  them  in 
the  land  of  Elis  on  the  western  side  of  the  Peloponnesos.  Wed- 
ding a  nymph  Iphianassa,  he  had  a  son  Aitolos  who  killed  Apis, 
the  Argive,  and  fled  across  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  to  the  moun- 
tainous country  of  the  Kouretes,  where  he  continued  his  mur- 


\  I  i 


I 


1:1 


■i! 
il 


56 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


derous  career,  and,  killing  his  hosts,  took  possession  of  their 
land  and  named  it  Aitolia.  In  the  course  of  time  he  had  two 
sons,  Plcuron  and  Kalydon,  who  gave  their  names  to  the  two 
chief  cities  of  Aitolia,  and  their  children  and  their  children's 
children  intermarried  until  finally  two  cousins,  Oineus  and 
Thestios,  were  supreme  in  the  country's  councils. 

Meh-a^ros  and  Jtalante.  —  Oineus  ruled  over  Kalydon  and 
took  Althaia,  the  daughter  of  Thestios,  as  his  wife.  Their  union 
was  blessed  by  a  son  Meleagros,  and  althoug..  some  said  that 
his  true  fatlicr  was  Arcs,  they  probably  judged  his  parentage 
from  his  exploits  with  the  spear.  When  Meleagros  was  only 
seven  days  old,  the  Moirai  prophesied  that  he  would  meet  his 
death  as  soon  as  the  brand  on  the  hearth  should  be  consumed. 
Thereupon,  to  prevent  her  child's  untimely  end,  Althaia  took 
the  faggot  then  blazing  on  the  hearth,  extinguished  it,  and  hid 
it  away  in  a  chest.  Many  years  afterward  at  harvest-time 
Oineus,  while  offering  sacrifices  of  the  first-fruits,  in  some  way- 
overlooked  Artemis,  who,  embittered  at  the  slight,  sent  a  huge 
boar  to  ravage  the  tilled  land  and  to  destroy  the  men  and  herds 
of  Aitolia.  Of  themselves  the  Aitclians  were  unable  to  kill  the 
beast,  and  Oineus  accordingly  summoned  the  mightiest  spear- 
men of  the  Greeks  to  engage  in  a  great  hunt,  promising  the 
skin  of  the  boar  as  a  reward  to  the  one  who  should  succeed  in 
slaying  it.  From  all  parts  of  Hellas  the  warriors  came  —  Kastor 
and  Polydeukes,  Idas  and  Lynkeus  from  Lakonia  and  Mes- 
senia;  Theseus  from  Athens;  Admetos,  lason,  and  Peleus  from 
Thessaly;  Meleagros  and  the  four  sons  of  Thestios  from  Ai- 
tolia; and,  most  conspicuous  of  all,  the  huntress  Atalante  of 
Arkadia. 

This  Atalante  was  of  doubtful  parentage,  if  the  conflicting 
statements  of  the  myths  mean  anything,  but  she  was  generally 
said  to  be  the  daughter  of  lasos  and  Klymene.  So  great  had 
been  her  father's  disappointment  that  she  was  not  a  boy  that 
he  exposed  her  in  the  forest  shortly  after  her  birth,  and  there 
she  was  nursed  by  a  bear  until  she  was  discovered  by  some 


M\THS  OF  THE  NORTHERN   MAINLAND      57 

huntsmen  who  brought  her  up  and  trained  her  in  the  chase. 
When  she  became  a  woman  she  spent  her  time  hunting  amid 
the  hills  and  valleys  of  Arkadia,  and  kept  her  life  as  chaste  as 
that  of  Artemis  herself.  With  her  bow  she  had  slain  two  Cen- 
taurs who  had  made  a  lustful  attack  on  her,  and  at  the  funeral 
games  of  Pclias  she  had  shown  her  skill  and  strength  by 
throwing  Peleus  in  wrestling.  Made  confident  by  these  ex- 
ploits, she  appeared  among  the  heroes  as  a  contestant  for  the 
great  boar's  skin. 

For  nine  days  Oineus  entertained  the  assembled  huntsmen  in 
Kalydon,  and  on  the  tenth  the  hunt  began.  In  a  short  time  the 
boar  had  mangled  and  killed  a  number  of  his  pursuers.  The 
first  blow  he  had  received  was  from  the  spear  of  Atalante,  but 
it  did  little  more  than  graze  him,  and  the  mortal  thrust  was 
reserved  for  the  weapon  of  Meleagros.  When  at  last  the  beast 
had  fallen,  Meleagros  flayed  it  and  took  the  skin  as  his  prize; 
but  his  uncles,  the  sons  of  Thestios,  who  in  the  contest  repre- 
sented the  Kouretes,  or  old  Aitolian  stock  living  in  Pleuron, 
grudged  him  his  lawful  gain  and  stirred  up  a  quarrel  with 
him,  which  resulted  in  pitched  war  between  the  people  of 
Kalydon  and  the  people  of  Pleuron.  Meleagros  showed  him- 
self to  be  as  great  a  warrior  as  he  was  a  hunter,  and  among  his 
many  enemies  whom  he  killed  was  one  of  his  uncles.  Appalled 
at  the  act,  Althaia  imprecated  curses  on  his  head,  and  sullenly 
Meleagros  retired  from  the  strife  to  his  wife  Kleopatra,  allow- 
ing his  people  to  fight  their  battle  alone.  In  the  appeal  of 
Phoinix  to  the  angry  Achilles  in  the  Iliad  this  part  of  the  story 
is  forcefully  told. 

"Now  was  the  din  of  foemen  about  their  gates  quickly 
risen,  and  a  noise  of  battering  of  towers;  and  the  elders  of  the 
Aitolians  sent  the  best  of  the  gods'  priests  and  besought  him 
[i.  e.  Meleagros]  to  come  forth  and  save  them,  with  promise  of 
a  mighty  gift;  to  wit,  they  bade  him,  where  the  plain  of  lovely 
Kalydon  was  fattest,  to  choose  him  out  a  fair  demesne  of  fifty 
plough-gates,  the  half  thereof  vine-land  and  the  half  open 


s-   '< 


f  : 


;1   f 


3- 


ii^ 


58 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


plough-land,  to  be  cut  from  out  the  plain.  And  old  knightly 
Oincus  prayed  him  instantly,  and  stood  upon  the  threshold  of 
his  high-roofed  chamber,  and  shook  the  morticed  doors  to 
beseech  his  son;  him  too  his  sisters  and  his  lady  mother  prayed 
instantly  —  but  he  denied  them  yet  more  —  instantly  too  his 
comrades  prayed,  that  were  nearest  him  and  dearest  of  all 
men.  Yet  even  so  persuaded  they  not  his  heart  within  his 
breast,  until  his  chamber  was  now  hotly  battered  and  the 
Kouretes  were  climbing  upon  the  towers  and  firing  the  great 
city.  Then  did  his  fair-girdled  wife  pray  Meleagros  with 
lamentation,  and  told  him  all  the  woes  that  come  on  men  whose 
city  is  taken;  the  warriors  are  slain,  and  the  city  is  wasted  of 
fire,  and  the  children  and  the  deep-girdled  women  are  led  cap- 
tive of  strangers.  And  his  soul  was  stirred  to  hear  the  grievous 
tale,  and  he  went  his  way  and  donned  his  glittering  armour. 
So  he  saved  the  Aitolians  from  the  evil  day,  obeying  his  own 
will;  but  they  paid  him  not  now  the  gifts  many  and  gracious; 
yet  nevertheless  he  drave  away  destruction."'  In  this  fray  he 
slew  the  remaining  three  sons  of  Thestios  and  then  himself 
was  killed.  At  his  death  his  mother  and  his  wife  hanged  them- 
selves, and  his  sisters  as  they  mourned  over  his  body  were 
changed  into  guinea-fowl. 

There  is  another  and  later  version  of  the  sequel  of  the  boar- 
hunt.  In  this,  Meleagros,  fascinated  by  the  charms  of  Ata- 
lante,  gave  the  skin  to  her,  though  his  uncles  openly  resented 
its  bestowal  on  a  woman,  especially  on  one  outside  the  pale  of 
their  own  family.  Finally  they  seized  Atalante  and  wrested 
her  prize  from  her,  but  in  chivalrous  anger  Meleagros  set  upon 
them  and  made  them  pay  the  penalty  with  their  lives.  Grieving 
for  the  loss  of  her  brothers,  Althaia  took  the  charred  brand 
from  the  chest  and  burned  it,  and  Meleagros  died  immediately 
after. 

The  Kalydonian  hunt  was  not  the  last  of  the  exploits  of 
Atalante.  According  to  one  story,  she  joined  the  heroes  in 
the  voyage  of  the  Argo,  and  in  one  of  their  battles  she  was 


■^f 


MYTHS  OF  THE  NORTHERx\  MAINLAND     59 

wounded,  but  was  healed  by  Medeia.  Another  legend  relates 
that  she  desired  to  go  on  the  voyage,  but  was  restrained  by 
lason.  After  a  number  of  years  Atalante  found  her  father, 
but  when  he  rather  abruptly  tried  to  exercise  a  parent's  pre- 
rogative in  marrying  her  to  a  suitor,  she  fled  from  him  to  a 
refuge  of  her  own  choosing.  This  place  afforded  a  straight 
level  stretch  of  ground  of  about  the  same  length  as  a  stadium, 
and  thither  she  invited  her  wooers  to  repair.  One  by  one  she 
challenged  them  to  a  race,  stipulating  that  the  man  whom  she 
should  overtake  would  be  killed  and  that  the  one  overtaking 
her  should  wed  her.  All  those  who  ventured  to  match  their 
speed  with  hers  lost  their  lives,  until  a  certain  Melanion  came 
to  the  course.  Very  astutely  he  had  brought  with  him  golden 
apples  of  Aphrodite,  and  as  he  ran  he  cast  them  behind  him. 
In  stooping  to  pick  them  up  Atalante  lost  so  much  time  that 
Melanion  won  the  race  and  a  bride.  Once  they  were  wedded 
they  went  away  toward  Boiotia  to  share  the  joys  and  freedom 
of  the  hunt  together,  but  their  happiness  was  short-lived, 
for  in  the  flush  of  success  Melanion  had  forgotten  to  thank 
Aphrodite  for  her  help.  So,  as  they  rested  in  a  grotto  near  a 
temple  of  Kybele,  the  goddess  threw  a  spell  upon  them  both 
by  which  they  became  lions  and  were  forbidden  to  know  the 
joys  of  mutual  love. 

All  the  outstanding  characteristics  of  Atalante,  her  skill 
with  the  bow  and  in  the  chase,  her  chastity,  and  her  swiftness 
of  foot,  together  with  her  early  association  with  the  bear,  go 
to  reveal  her  as  Artemis  in  human  form. 


11! 
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CHAPTER   IV 

MYTHS    OF  CRETE    AND    ATTIKE 

I.    CRETE 

J7UR0PE.  —  Europe,  as  \vc  have  already  seen  in  the  first 
-'-'  part  of  the  legend  of  Kadmos,  was  the  daughter  of 
Agenor  (or,  by  some  accounts,  of  Phoinix).  One  day,  when  she 
was  plucking  flowers  with  her  friends  in  a  beautiful  meadow  of 
Phoinikia,  Zeus  spied  her  from  afar  and  became  so  enamoured 
of  her  that,  in  order  to  deceive  the  watchful  Hera,  he  took  the 
form  of  a  grazing  bull  and  approached  the  happy  group  of 
maidens.  Drawing  close  to  Europe,  he  cast  a  charm  over  her 
by  his  gentle  manner,  so  that  she  fearlessly  stroked  and  petted 
him  and  led  her  comrades  in  playing  merry  pranks  with  him. 
Further  emboldened,  she  climbed  upon  his  back,  endeavouring 
to  lure  some  of  her  companions  after  her,  but  before  they  could 
come  near,  the  bull  with  a  bound  leaped  into  the  sea  and  swam 
away  with  her.  In  answer  to  her  tearful  pleadings  Zeus  at 
length  revealed  himself  and  his  love.  Continuing  westward 
across  the  deep,  he  brought  her  to  the  island  of  Crete,  where 
he  wedded  her  and  begat  the  heroes  Minos,  Rhadamanthys, 
and  Sarpedon,  while  in  the  meantime  the  vain  search  for 
Europe  prosecuted  b\-  her  mother  and  brothers  resulted  in  the 
final  dispersal  of  the  family  of  Agenor  into  various  parts  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  Aegean. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  love  of  Zeus  w  .ned  and  he 
abandoned  Europe  to  Asterios,  king  of  the  Cretans,  who  reared 
her  children  as  his  own.  After  the  sons  had  reached  adult  years, 
they  quarrelled  amongst  themselves  over  a  beautiful  youth 
named  Miletos,  and  when  Minos  triumphed  over  Sarpedon, 


;      !• 


! 


n 


PLATE   XVIII 

Europe  and  the   Bi'i.l 

The  painter  has  as  it  were  photographed  Europe 
and  her  companions  caressing  the  bull  at  the  moment 
just  before  the  creature  leaped  into  the  sea.  The 
group  of  rigurcs  is  shown  against  a  rocky  and  partly 
wooded  hillside,  and  not  in  a  meadow,  as  the  myth 
would  lead  one  to  expect.  The  round  column  in  the 
centre  is  apparently  sacred  in  character,  while  the 
square  pillar  and  the  water-jar  at  the  right  may  mark 
a  fountain  at  which  the  maidens  have  been  drawing 
water.  A  narrow  strip  of  pale  blue  along  the  lower 
edge  of  the  picture  symbolizes  the  proximity  of  the 
sea.  From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting  (Hcrmann- 
Bruckmann,  DenkmaUr  dtr  Malerei  dn  Altcrtum<, 
No.  68).     See  p.  60. 


M\THS  OF  CRETE  AND  ATFIKE 


6l 


they  all  fled  from  the  kingdom.  Milctos  took  up  a  permaruiit 
abode  in  Asia  Minor  and  founded  the  city  which  bore  his  name; 
Sarpedon  attacked  Lykia  and  won  its  throne,  and  Zeus  gave 
him  the  boon  of  a  life  three  generations  long;  Rhadamanlhys, 
who  had  enjoyed  sovereignty  over  the  islands  cf  the  sea,  left 
his  dominions  and  took  refuge  in  Boiotia,  where  he  became  the 
husband  of  Alkmene;  Minos  remained  in  Crete  and  drew  up  a 
code  of  laws  by  which  he  was  to  gain  immortal  renown.  The 
commonly  accepted  story  relates  that  he  married  Pasiphae, 
the  daughter  of  Helios,  although  another  states  that  his  wife 
was  Crete,  the  daughter  of  his  step-father  Asterios.  A  large 
family  was  born  to  him,  the  most  famous  of  his  sons  being  An- 
drogeos,  Glaukos,  and  Katreus,  and  of  his  daughters,  Ariadne 
and  Phaidra. 

Myths  of  Minos  and  his  Sons;  Minos.  —  When  Asterios  died, 
Minos  claimed  the  crown,  but  was  thwarted  in  his  efTorts  to 
secure  it,  until,  as  a  last  resort,  he  asserted  that  it  was  his  by 
divine  right  and  promised  to  demonstrate  this  by  eliciting  the 
open  approval  of  the  gods.  OfTering  a  sacrifice  to  Poseidon,  he 
prayed  that  the  god  would  send  up  from  the  depths  of  the  sea 
a  bull  as  a  sign  of  his  sovereignty,  adding  the  promise  that  he 
would  forthwith  make  the  bull  a  victim  on  the  altar  of  Posei- 
don as  a  thank-oflFering.  The  deity  hearkened  to  the  petition, 
but  so  beautiful  was  the  beast  which  he  thrust  upward  from 
the  waters  that  Minos  became  greedy  for  it,  and  thmking  to 
deceive  the  god  sacrificed  another  in  Its  place.  He  gained 
the  kingdom  which  he  so  much  coveted,  and,  besides,  the 
undisputed  command  of  the  Great  Sea  and  its  islands,  but 
punishment  was  in  store  for  him.  Poseidon,  remembering  the 
attempted  deception,  sowed  in  the  heart  of  Pasiphae  an  unnat- 
ural love  for  the  bull,  and  drove  her  to  consummate  her  desire 
with  the  help  of  the  skilled  craftsman  Daidalos;  but  her  sin 
became  known  when  she  brought  into  the  world  a  hideous 
monster  with  the  body  of  a  man  and  the  head  of  a  bull  —  the 
Minotaur.'  Advised  by  an  oracle,  Minos  shut  the  creature  in 


IJ 


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I 


62 


GREEK  AND   ROMAY   MY       JLOGY 


the  labyrinth  which  Daida'o?  had  constructed  for  him,  this 
building  consisting  of  so  intricate  a  tangle  of  passages  that  it 
was  impossible  for  one  to  find  his  way  out  of  it.  There  the 
Minotaur  remained  feeding  on  the  prey  brought  to  him  from 
all  parts  of  Crete  until  the  day  v.hen  he  was  killed  by  Theseus 
of  Athens.  This  story,  however,  is  best  told  in  connexion  with 
the  career  of  Theseus. 

Jndrogeos.  —  The  experiences  of  the  sons  of  Minos  were  a 
medley  of  tragedy  and  miracle.  Androgeos  heard  that  the  sea- 
born bull  which  Heraklcs  had  taken  to  Argolis  had  escaped  from 
that  territory  and  was  ravaging  the  lands  about  Marathon. 
Apparently  thinking  that  a  Cretan  arm  was  more  skilled  to  do 
battle  with  a  Cretan  beast,  he  took  ship  and  sailed  to  Attike 
in  the  hope  of  killing  the  bull.  As  it  happened  the  animal  killed 
him,  but  from  this  incident  developed  the  circumstance-  which 
led,  later  on,  to  Theseus's  voyage  to  Crete. 

Glaukos.  —  The  legend  of  Glaukos  relates  that,  when  a  small 
child,  he  was  once  pursuing  a  mouse  and  fell  into  a  jar  of 
honey  in  which  he  was  smothered  to  death.  Minos  st.  ght  for 
the  child  everywhere,  but  without  success,  and  at  last  he  ap- 
pealed to  the  soothsayers,  who  answered  him  in  the  form  of  a 
riddle:  "In  thy  fields  grazeth  a  calf  whose  body  changeth  hue 
thrice  in  the  space  of  each  day.  It  is  first  white,  then  red,  and 
at  the  last  black.  He  who  can  unravel  the  meaning  of  this  riddle 
will  restore  thy  child  to  thee  alive."  After  Polyidos  the  seer 
had  divined  that  the  enigma  alluded  to  the  mulberry,  he  found 
the  body  of  Glaukos  in  the  honey-jar,  and  Minos  enclosed  him 
in  a  chamber  with  the  corpse,  bidding  him  bring  it  back  to 
life.  While  wondering  what  to  do,  Polyidos  chanced  to  see  a 
snake  crawl  across  the  floor  to  the  child's  body,  and  he  killed  it 
with  a  stone.  Soon  aftervvard  he  observed  a  second  serpent 
come  near  to  the  body  of  the  first,  and,  covering  it  with  grass, 
revive  it.  Inspired  by  this  example,  the  seer  did  the  same  thing 
to  the  body  of  Glaukos,  and  to  his  unbounded  delight  beheld  it 
slowly  come  to  life.   Minos  gladly  received  his  son  back  from 


MYTHS  OF  CRETE  AND  ATTIKE 


63 


the  dead,  but,  in  the  hope  of  learning  the  method  of  the  res- 
toration, he  ungratefully  refused  to  allow  Polyidos  to  return 
to  his  home  in  Argos  until  he  should  reveal  the  secret  to  Glau- 
kos.  Under  compulsion  the  seer  yielded,  but  when  about  to 
sail  away  he  spat  suddenly  in  the  boy's  mouth  and  all  remem- 
brance of  the  manner  of  his  recall  to  life  was  erased  from  his 
mind. 

Katreus.  —  The  story  of  Katreus,  like  that  of  Oidipous, 
clearly  reveals  the  conviction  of  the  ancient  Greeks  that  it  was 
impossible  to  escape  from  the  mandates  of  Fate.  Katreus  had 
one  son  Althaimenes,  who,  an  oracle  declared,  was  destined  to 
kill  his  father.  To  avoid  so  monstrous  a  deed  he  fled  to  Rhodes, 
but  as  the  years  went  by  Katreus  felt  the  disabilities  of  age 
creeping  upon  him  and  longed  for  his  son  that  he  might  en- 
trust to  him  the  responsibilities  of  the  government.  Despairing 
of  the  young  man's  voluntary  return,  he  went  himself  to  Rhodes 
in  search  of  him,  but  when  disembarking  on  the  shore,  he  was 
met  by  Althaimenes,  who,  mistaking  him  for  a  robber,  killed 
him.  On  discovering  that  he  had  fulfilled  the  oracle  in  spite 
of  himself,  the  son  prayed  for  the  ground  to  open  and  swallow 
him  up.  His  entreaty  was  heard,  and  the  earth  suddenly  took 
him  away  from  his  companions. 

Deukalion.  —  Deukalion,  a  fourth  son  of  Minos,  became  king 
on  his  father's  death,  and  his  son  Idomeneus  led  a  contingent 
of  Cretans  against  Troy. 

The  Character  and  Achievements  of  Minos.  —  It  remains  to 
say  more  of  Minos  himself,  on  the  interpretation  of  whose  life 
and  person  much  thought  and  ingenuity  have  been  expended. 
He  has  been  explained  as  a  pre-Hellenic  god  of  Crete,  a  double 
of  Zeus,  as  a  sun-god  in  conjunction  with  the  moon-goddess 
Europe,  as  a  human  representative  of  the  Phoinikian  Ba'al 
Melqart,  or  as  of  the  same  primitive  origin  as  the  Indian 
Manu.  Yet  the  farther  the  Cretan  excavations  are  carried, 
the  stronger  grows  the  conviction  of  scholarship  that  in  the 
single  person  of  Minos  mythology  has  compounded  the  chief 


I': 


I 


64 


GREEK  AND  RO\L\N  MYTHOLOGY 


characteristics  of  the  powerful  race  of  sea-kings  who  ruled  over 
Crete  in  the  days  which  preceded  the  dominion  of  the  Arglves. 
In  a  certain  sense,  then,  the  tradition  is  correct  which  places 
him  three  generations  before  the  Trojan  war;  he  is  not  far  from 
being  a  historical  character. 

Minos  is  chiefly  known  as  a  ruler  of  powerful  initiative  in 
many  fields.  He  founded  numerous  cities  in  Crete,  the  most 
notable  being  his  capital,  Knossos;  to  facilitate  the  adminis- 
tration of  government  he  divided  the  island  into  three  districts 
with  Knossos,  Phaistos,  and  Kydonia  as  head  cities;  and  he 
extended  his  sway  far  out  over  the  islands  and  the  coasts  of 
the  mainland,  and  many  settlements  were  named  after  him. 
He  divided  the  Cretan  burghers  into  two  main  classes,  farmers 
and  soldiers  —  producers  and  defenders;  with  the  assistance 
of  the  people  of  Karia  he  is  said  to  have  cleared  the  sea  of 
pirates ;  and  to  enable  his  citizens  todevelop  their  maritime  com- 
merce he  invented  a  type  of  small  coasting  vessel.  The  code  of 
laws  which  he  established  among  the  Cretans  he  received  in 
the  first  place  from  Zeus,  and,  in  order  to  obtain  advice  with 
reference  to  such  modifications  of  it  as  should  be  necessary  from 
time  to  time,  he  went  to  Mount  Ida  every  ninth  year  and  con- 
ferred with  Zeus.  In  his  administration  of  the  law  his  brother 
Rhadamanthys  assisted  him  in  the  cities,  and  Talos,  the  man 
of  bronze,  in  the  country,  but  Rhadamanthys  succeeded  only 
too  well,  so  that  he  incurred  the  jealousy  of  Minos  and  was 
banished  to  a  remote  part  of  the  island.  As  a  warrior  Minos 
showed  himself  cruel  and  harsh  and  in  conflict  with  his  character 
as  a  just  and  mild  ruler,  although  this  side  of  his  portrait  is, 
no  doubt,  coloured  by  Athenian  prejudice.  His  career  in  arms 
will  be  narrated  in  the  myths  of  Attike. 

Daidalos. — Though  a  native  of  Athens,  Daidalos  is  more 
closely  connected  with  the  legends  of  Crete  than  with  those 
of  Attike.  At  Athens  he  killed  his  nephew  in  a  fit  of  jealousy 
and  fled  to  Crete,  where  Minos  received  him  in  his  court  and 
encouraged  his  inventive  genius.   Among  the  many  wonderful 


M'iTHS  OF  CRETE  AND  ATTIKE 


6S 


things  which  he  created  for  the  king  was  the  labyrinth  of 
Knossos  which  we  have  already  described;  but  he  prostituted 
his  ability  by  aiding  Pasiphae  in  her  intrigue  with  the  bull  of 
Poseidon,  and  with  his  son  Ikaros  he  was  thrown  into  prison 
by  Minos.  By  means  of  cleverly  contrived  wings  the  two  man- 
aged to  escape  from  their  confinement,  the  father  enjoining 
Ikaros  not  to  fiy  too  low,  lest  the  wings  dip  in  the  sea  and 
the  glue  which  held  them  together  be  softened,  nor  too  high, 
lest  the  heat  of  the  sun  have  the  same  effect.  Ikaros  disobeyed, 
sought  too  lofty  a  flight,  and  fell  headlong  into  that  part  of 
the  Mediterranean  which  since  that  day  has  been  known  as 
the  Ikarian  Sea,  whereas  the  more  cautious  Daidalos  flew  safely 
to  the  Sicilian  city  of  Kamikos,  whose  king,  Kokalos,  secretly 
gave  him  protection.  Thither  Minos  followed  by  ship,  and  re- 
sorted to  a  shrewd  device  to  find  out  if  Daidalos  were  really 
there.  Showing  Kokalos  a  snail-shell,  he  told  him  that  a  great 
reward  would  be  bestowed  upon  the  man  who  could  put  a  linen 
thread  through  its  coils,  whereupon  Kokalos  gave  the  shell  to 
Daidalos,  who  pierced  it,  tied  a  thread  to  an  ant,  and  sent  It 
through  the  hole  drawing  the  thread  behind  it.  Alinos,  know- 
■  ing  that  only  Daidalos  could  have  done  this,  demanded  that 
Kokalos  surrender  him,  but  this  the  Sicilian  king  would  not 
do,  though  he  consented  to  entertain  Minos  in  his  palace. 
One  day  when  the  Cretan  ruler  was  bathing,  the  daughters  of 
Kokalos  suddenly  appeared  and  killed  him  by  pouring  boiling 
pitch  over  him.  His  followers  buried  his  body  and  erected  a 
monument  over  the  grave,  founding  the  city  of  Minoa  in  the 
vicinity. 

Daidalos  is  probably  to  be  regarded  as  the  representative  of 
the  artists  and  artisans  of  the  later  Minoan  or  Mykenaian  age. 
One  of  the  highly  prized  relics  preserved  in  the  temple  of 
Athene  Polias  on  the  Athenian  Acropolis  was  a  folding  chair  said 
to  have  been  fashioned  by  his  hands.  Of  images  attributed  to 
him  Pausanias  says  that  they  "are  somewhat  uncouth  to  the 
eye,  but  there  is  a  touch  of  the  divine  in  them  for  all  that."  * 


f  i 


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GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLCX}Y 


II.   ATTIKE 

The  body  of  Attic  myths  is  a  relatively  late  creation.  Careful 
study  of  it  shows  that  its  component  parts  were  drawn  from 
many  diflFerent  local  Hellenic  sources  and  that  the  process  of 
weaving  them  together  was  long;  but  just  what  this  process 
(or  processes,  it  may  be)  was,  will  probably  never  be  more  than 
the  object  of  conjecture.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  evi- 
dences point  to  an  abundance  of  both  conscious  and  unconscious 
imitation  of  other  bodies  of  myth  at  various  periods,  to  a  de- 
liberate fabrication  of  genealogies,  and  to  the  naive  issuance 
of  stories  to  account  for  rituals  whose  meanings  had  been  lost 
in  a  dark  past;  but  it  is  difficult  to  cite  with  certainty  even  a 
few  instances  of  these,  for  there  is  a  great  gulf,  as  yet  only  pre- 
cariously bridged,  between  the  historical  cults  of  Attike  and 
the  earliest  period  of  which  we  have  any  religious  remains. 

Kekrops.  —  The  early  genealogies  were,  even  to  the  ancients, 
a  weird  tangle,  containing  as  they  did  many  acknowledged 
double  appearances,  not  a  few  dummy  personages,  and  patent 
inversions  of  time  relationships.    Kekrops,  who  was  commonly 
accepted  as  the  great  original  ancestor  of  the  Athenians,  was 
reputed  to  have  been  born  of  the  soil,  and  was  regarded  as 
being  part  man  and  part  serpent.  The  most  recent  scholarship 
regards  him  as  a  form  of  Poseidon,  the  sea-god,  imported  from 
the  east  and  later  identified  with  the  native  agricultural  divin- 
ity Erichthonios.     Kekrops  became  the  first  ruler  of  Attike 
and  changed  its  name  from  Akte  ("Seaboard")  to  Kekropia. 
During  his  reign  Poseidon  came  to  Athens  and  with  his  trident 
struck  a  spot  on  the  summit  of  the  Acropolis  whence  gushed 
forth  a  spring  of  salt  water  afterward  sacred  to  Poseidon  and 
known  as  the  "  Sea."    Poseidon  was  now  the  supreme  divinity 
of  the  kingdom,  but  Athene  soon  came  and  wrested  the  su- 
premacy from  him.  To  bear  legal  witness  to  her  conquest  she 
summoned  Kekrops,  or,  as  some  say,  the  citizenry  of  Athens, 
or  the  circle  of  the  Olympians;  and  as  material  evidence  of  her 


i  • 


r 


! 

i 

\ 


PLATE   XIX 

The  Birth  of  Erichthonios 

Ge,  emerging  from  the  ground,  entrusts  the  infant 
Erichthonios  to  Athene,  this  being  a  mythological 
wav  of  saying  that  Athene  herself  is  an  earth  goddess. 
The  tall  manly  figure,  who  looks  paternally  on  the 
scene  before  him,  is  Hephaistos.  On  both  sides  of  this 
group  are  the  Erotes  ("Loves")  who  presided  over 
the  union  of  the  god  and  goddess.  From  a  red-figured 
namnos  of  about  500  B.C.,  in  Munich  (Furtwangler- 
Reichhold,  Griechische  Fisenma/erei,  No.  i'>7)  See 
p.  67.  •'^^' 


^'\ 


s! 


MYTHS  OF  CRETE  AND  ATTIKE 


(^7 


contention  she  planted  on  the  Acropolis  near  the  salt  spring  the 
long-lived  olive  which  was  to  be  the  mother-tree  of  the  Attic 
orchards.  The  witnesses  awarded  the  dominion  to  Athene, 
whereupon  Poseidon,  angry  at  being  dispossessed,  covered  the 
fertile  plain  of  Attike  with  a  flood.  Kekrops  now  wedded 
Agraulos,  the  daughter  of  Aktaios,  to  whom  some  mythogra- 
phers  assigned  the  first  kingship;  and  they  had  three  daughters, 
Agraulos  (Aglauros),  Herse  ("Dew,"  or  "Offspring"),  and 
Pandrosos  ("AU-Bedcwing"),  and  a  son  Erysichthon,  "a  sha- 
dowy personality"  who  died  childless. 

Erichthonios.  —  On  the  death  of  Kekrops,  Kranaos,  another 
son  of  the  soil  and  the  most  powerful  of  the  native  chieftains, 
became  king,  and  when  Atthis,  one  of  his  daughters,  died, 
he  attached  the  name  of  Attike  to  the  country  as  a  memorial 
to  her.  In  his  reign  the  flood  of  Deukalion  occurred,  and  then 
came  a  series  of  dynastic  changes.  Kranaos  was  driven  from  the 
throne  by  Amphiktyon,  also  a  son  of  the  soil,  and  Amphiktyon 
was  expelled  in  his  turn  by  Erichthonios,  whose  father  was 
Hephaistos  and  whose  mother  was  either  Athene,  Earth,  or 
Atthis.  The  legend  which  makes  him  the  son  of  Athene 
relates  that  without  the  knowledge  of  the  other  gods  she 
placed  him  as  an  infant  in  a  chest,  which  she  entrusted  to  Pan- 
drosos with  the  injunction  that  on  no  account  was  it  to  be 
opened.  Feminine  curiosity,  however,  got  the  better  of  the 
sisters  of  Pandrosos  and  they  opened  the  chest,  out  of  which 
sprang  a  serpent  that  killed  them,  or,  as  some  said,  drove  them 
mad  so  that  they  leaped  to  their  death  from  the  cliffs  of  the 
Acropolis.3  Athene  then  took  the  child  into  her  own  care  and 
reared  him  in  her  shrine;  and  when  he  had  grown  up,  he  ex- 
pelled Amphiktyon,  erected  a  wooden  statue  of  his  mother 
on  the  sacred  hill,  and  established  the  Panathenaic  festivd. 
After  his  death  his  body  was  buried  in  the  precinct  of  Athene, 
and  his  kingdom  was  left  to  his  son  Pandion. 

Boutes  and  Erechtheus.  —  Pandion   is   simply   a   link  in   a 

<:hain  of  genealogy.   He  was  the  father  of  the  unhappy  women, 
1  —  9 


I  i  iil 


f 


:i  m 


m 


68 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  \nTHOLOGY 


Proline  and  Philomcli-,  and  of  two  sons,  Boutcs  and  Erc- 
ditluus,  who  divided  the  royal  duties  between  them  on  their 
father's  death,  the  first  taking,'  the  joint  priesthood  of  Athene 
and  Poseidon,  the  second  tlie  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment. Boutes  became  the  founder  of  a  priestly  family  which 
continued  down  to  historical  times.  Erechtheus  was  really  a 
double  of  Erichthonios,  as  is  indicated  by  his  name,  which  is 
only  an  abbreviated  form  of  Erichthonios,  and  thus,  after  a 
fashion,  Erechtheus  also  was  a  ward  of  Athene.  It  was  said 
that  he  had  snake-like  feet  and  that  to  hide  them  as  he  went 
about  among  his  people  he  invented  the  chariot  and  thus 
avoided  walking,  although  in  some  sources  he  is  described  as 
entirely  of  human  form.  As  secular  leader  of  the  Athenians 
he  conducted  an  expedition  against  the  people  of  Eleusis,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  behest  of  an  oracle  he  sacrificed  his 
youngest  daughter  to  bring  victory  to  the  Athenian  arms. 
His  success  was  indeed  tragic,  for  though  he  slew  Eumolpos, 
the  commander  of  the  Elcusinians,  his  other  daughters  took 
their  own  lives  on  learning  of  the  oflFering  of  their  sister,  and 
he  himself  was  killed  by  Poseidon,  the  father  of  Eumolpos. 
Of  his  daughters  Kreousa,  Prokris,  and  Oreithyia  became  fa- 
mous names  in  Attic  myth.  He  was  followed  in  order  by  a  son 
and  a  grandson,  Kekrops  and  Pandion,  the  second  of  whom 
was  dispossessed  of  his  throne  by  his  usurping  cousins,  the 
sons  of  Metion.  Taking  refuge  in  Megara,  he  there  brought 
up  a  family  of  four  valiant  sons,  Aigeus,  Pallas,  Nisos,  and 
Lykos.  These,  to  avenge  their  father's  wrong,  invaded  Attike, 
evicted  the  usurpers,  and  partitioned  the  realm  amongst  them- 
selves, allowing  Aigeus,  however,  the  chief  authority.  The 
legends  of  the  marriages  and  the  early  reign  of  Aigeus  belong 
more  properly  to  the  account  of  the  life  of  his  son  Theseus. 

The  Sons  of  Pandion;  The  War  with  Minos.  —  After  return- 
ing from  a  sojourn  in  Troizen,  Aigeus  celebrated  the  Panath- 
enaic  festival.  It  happened  that  Androgeos,  the  son  of  Minos 
of  Crete,  was  the  victor  in  all  the  athletic  contests,  and  as 


MYTHS  OF  CRETE  AND  ATTTKE 


69 


a  supreme  test  of  the  young  man's  skill  and  swiftness  of  foot 
Aigous  sent  him  against  the  bull  of  Marathon,  but  Androgeos 
lost  his  life  in  the  undertaking.  On  the  other  hand,  the  authors 
of  certain  accounts  state  that  on  his  way  to  the  funeral  games 
of  Pelias  he  was  killed  by  jealous  rivals  who  had  lost  to  him 
in  Athens.  In  either  event  Minos  held  Athens  as  blameworthy 
for  his  son's  death  and  to  punish  her  led  a  great  army  and  fleet 
against  her,  taking  Megara  by  storm  and  making  Nisos  pris- 
oner. Now  Nisos  had  growing  in  his  head  a  purple  hair,  and 
an  oracle  had  declared  that  as  long  as  he  retained  it  his  kingdom 
would  stand;  but  his  daughter  Skylla,  falling  in  love  with 
Minos,  plucked  the  hair  in  order  to  win  favour,  and  brought 
about  her  father's  fall.  When  Minos  sailed  away  she  asked  to 
be  taken  with  him,  but  meeting  with  a  refusal  on  account  of 
her  treachery,  she  threw  herself  into  the  sea  and  became  a 
fish,  while  Nisos,  in  pursuit  of  her,  was  changed  into  a  sea- 
eagle.  Lykos,  a  third  son  of  Pandion,  was  credited  by  some 
Athenians  with  having  founded  the  famous  Lykeion  in  Athens. 

Athens  herself  held  out  against  all  the  assaults  of  Minos, 
until,  finally,  he  appealed  to  Zeus  to  visit  ven;  e  upon  the 

city,  and  the  god  sent  famine  and  pestilence  to  q  vhat  human 
efforts  could  not  avail.  The  Athenians  sacrificed  four  maidens 
over  the  grave  of  Geraistios,  but  still  their  troubles  did  not 
abate,  and  at  last  they  yielded  and  accepted  the  terms  of 
Minos,  who  cruelly  exacted  that  each  year  Athens  was  to  send 
to  Crete  seven  unarmed  youths  and  maidens  to  be  the  prey 
of  the  Minotaur.  From  this  dreadful  tribute  the  Athenians 
suffered  until  released  years  afterward  by  Theseus. 

The  Daughters  of  Kekrops.  —  Agraulos,  one  of  the  three 
daughters  of  Kekrops,  became  the  wife  of  Ares  and  by  him  the 
mother  of  a  daughter,  Alkippe,  who,  while  still  a  mere  girl, 
was  shamefully  attacked  by  Halirrhothios,  a  son  of  Poseidon. 
Ares  promptly  killed  the  offender,  and,  on  the  appeal  of  Posei- 
don, was  tried  before  a  tribunal  of  the  gods  on  a  rocky  emi- 
nence at  the  foot  of  the  Acropolis,  being  acquitted,  as  it  were. 


1.  '!( 


» 


70  CREEK  AND   ROMAN    MVTIIOLaJV 

on  the  strfMjjlh  of  the  "unwritnn  law."  After  this  the  Athe- 
nians i-ssayiiin  to  f  >llo\v  tiic  divine  i-xampk-,  established  a 
criminal  cmrt  on  the  same  spot  and  designated  it  Areopagos, 
"Hill  of  Ares."'  The  two  sisters  of  Agraulos,  Hcrsc  and 
Pandrosos,  were  both  united  in  wedlock  to  Hermes,  by  whom 
the  one  became  the  mother  of  the  beautiful  Kephalos  and  the 
other  bore  Kery.x,  the  forefather  of  a  great  Athenian  family. 

The  Daughters  of  Pandion.  —  When  war  broke  out  between 
Athens   and  Thebes   over   the   question   of   the   marchlands, 
Pandion  asked  Tereus,  son  of  Ares,  to  come  from  Thrace  to 
help  him.   By  means  of  his  assistance  he  won  the  war  and  as  a 
reward  gave  him  iiis  daughter  Prokne,  but  after  a  few  years  of 
married  life  the  love  of  Tereus  cooled  and  a  passion  for  his 
wife's  sister,  Philomcle,  mastered  him.    He  told  his  sister-in- 
law  that  Troknr  was  dead  and  professed  so  warm  a  love  for 
her  that  she  consented  to  become  his  wife.    But  it  was  not 
long  before  she  discovered  his  trickery,  wherefore,  lest  she  tell 
her  story  to  the  world,  Tereus  cut  out  her  tongue  and  con- 
fined her  in  a  solitary  place.  Notwithstanding  his  precautions, 
she  wove  a  message  into  a  garment  and  sent  it  to  her  sister. 
After  a  long  search  Prokne  found  Philomele,  and  together  they 
devised  a  revolting  revenge  on  Tereus,  in  pursuance  of  which 
Prokne,  inviting  him  to  a  banquet,  set  before  him  the  flesh  of 
their  own  son  Itys.  The  sisters  then  made  haste  to  fly  from  the 
land,  but  Tereus  overtook  them  in  Phokis,  and  as  they  pite- 
ously  prayed  the  gods  for  escape  from  their  ruthless  pursuer, 
they  were  all  changed  into  birds,  Prokne  becoming  a  nightin- 
gale, Philomele,  a  swallow,  and  Tereus  a  hoopoe.  The  ancient 
Athenians,  accordingly,  used  to  say  that  the  sweet  plaintive 
song  of  the  nigiitingalc  was  the  wail  of  Prokne   for  her  un- 
happy Itys.   The  resemblance  between  this  story  and  that  of 
the  Boiotian  Aedon  and  Itylos  needs  no  pointing  out.   In  refer- 
ence to  a  similar  story  Pausanias'^  remarks,  with  the  naivete 
of  a  child:  "That  a  man  should  be  turned  inf-  a  bird  is  to 
me  incredible." 


M\THS  OF  CRETj:  AND  ATTIKE 


71 


The  Daughters  of  Erechtheus;  A'w«Jfl.— Krcousa  found  favour 
in  the  eyes  of  Apollo  and  b)rc  him  a  son  named  Ion,  but,  keep- 
ing her  secret  to  herself,  she  aban.loncd  the  child  and  married 
Xouthos,  an  Athenian  soldier  of  fortune.    As  it  happened.  Ion 
was  found  and  was  placed  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphoi 
as  an  attendant.    Together  Kr.ousa  and  her  husband  went  to 
Delphoi  to  seek  the  advice  of  the  oracle  in  reference  to  off- 
spring, and  received  a   response  which  Xouthos  interpreted 
to  mean  that  Ion,  whom  they  met  in  the  temple,  was  their 
child.    In  a  fit  of  jealousy  at  the  readiness  of  her  husband  to 
adopt  one  whom  she  secretly  felt  could  not  be  his  offspring, 
she  made  an  attempt  to  poison  Ion,  who  was  saved  by  a  mere 
accident.    Roused  to  revenge  he  formed  a  plan  to  murder 
her,  but  his  intention  was  happily  frustrated  by  the  Pythian 
priestess,  who,  in  the  nick  of  time,  produced  the  trinkets  and 
clothing  that  had  been  found  with  him,  and  Kreousa,  recog- 
nizing by  ♦'  e^c  that  he  was  the  son  whom  she  had  borne  to 
Apollo,  too'    lim  into  her  home.    Afterward  she  and  Xouthos 
were  blessed  with  a  son,  Achaios.    If  we  are  to  accept  a  dif- 
ferent account  from  the  foregoing.  Ion,  and  not  Kekrops,  suc- 
ceeded Erechtheus  as  king  of  Attike  and  became  the  founder 
of  the  Ionian  stock,  Achaios  and  his  descendants  being  later 
overshadowed  by  the  family  of  Ion  because  Achaios  was  not 
of  divine  blood. 

Prokris.  —  At  the  time  when  Prokris  and  Kephalos  became 
husband  and  wife  they  pledged  themselves  to  conjugal  fidelity 
with  more  than  ordinary  solemnity.  Now  Kephalos  was  a 
hunter  by  occupation,  and  of  comely  countenance  and  form. 
Early  one  morning,  when  he  was  scouring  the  Attic  hills  for 
game,  Eos  ("Dawn")  spied  him,  and,  drawn  by  his  charms, 
asked  of  him  that  he  would  give  her  his  love.  Bound  by  the 
ties  of  affection  and  of  his  oath,  Kephalos  refused  her,  but  the 
passion  of  the  divinity  was  not  to  be  denied.  Slyly  insinuat- 
ing that  under  like  circumstances  Prokris  would  be  less  scrupu- 
lous than  he,  she  gave  him  the  appearance  of  a  stranger,  and 


7^ 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


then,  bestowing  on  him  lovely  gifts  such  as  please  the  heart  of 
woman,  suggested  that  he  make  trial  of  his  wife's  fidelity.  To 
his  surprise  Prokris  weakened  at  the  sight  of  the  gifts,  but 
when  he  resumed  iiis  real  form  she  became  ashamed  and  fled 
away  to  Crete.  There  she  wished  to  follow  Artemis  in  the 
liunt,  but  the  goddess  would  have  none  of  her  in  her  chaste 
company.  Breaking  into  tears,  Prokris  told  Artemis  of  the 
wicked  deceit  practiced  on  her,  and  in  pity  the  divinity  gave 
her  a  never-erring  hunting-spear,  and  a  dog,  Lailaps,  which 
never  missed  its  quarry.  Disguising  herself  as  a  youth,  Prokris 
returned  to  Attike,  and,  winning  the  attention  of  Kephalos 
through  her  prowess  with  the  gifts  of  Artemis,  promised  him 
that  she  would  give  them  to  liim  in  return  for  his  affection, 
saying  that  neither  gold  nor  silver  could  buy  them  from  her, 
but  only  love.  At  that  he  granted  her  desire,  and  forthwith 
slie  became  her  own  ild  self  and  their  former  relations  were 
resumed.  Prokris  was  still  fearful  of  the  wiles  of  Eos,  how- 
ever, and  one  day  she  hid  in  a  thicket  near  her  husband  as 
he  was  hunting  in  order  to  spy  on  her  beautiful  rival.  Kephalos, 
seeing  a  mo\ement  of  twigs  and  thinking  that  it  was  caused  by 
some  beast,  iiurled  his  javelin,  which,  according  to  its  nature, 
fl''W  straight  to  its  mark,  but,  to  his  disma\',  he  discovered  that 
the  quarr}'  he  had  slain  was  his  own  dear  wife. 

A  second  foini  of  the  story  differs  from  this  in  several  de- 
tails. Bribed  by  the  glitter  of  a  golden  crown,  Prokris  sur- 
rendered herself  to  one  Pteleon,  and,  when  detected  by  her 
husband  in  her  sin,  took  refuge  at  the  court  of  Minos.  Minos, 
too,  made  love  to  her,  for  Pasiphae  had  so  bewitched  him  with 
a  certain  drug  that  he  could  not  escape  a  passion  for  every 
woman  whom  he  met,  a  passion  which  was  bound  to  work 
evil  for  both  lovers  alike.  B\'  the  use  of  a  magic  antidote 
Prokris  freed  him  from  this  spell,  and  in  gratitude  Minos  gave 
her  the  spear  and  the  dog.  Nevertheless,  apprehensive  of  some 
evil  design  on  the  part  (jf  Pasiphae,  she  made  her  way  to  Attike 
and  patched  up  her  former  alliance  with  Kephalos.    One  day, 


iiil 


JH 


PLATE   XX 

Eos    AND    KePHALOS 

Eos,  suddenly  approaching  Kephalos  from  behind, 
has  laid  her  left  arm  across  his  shoulders,  and  with 
her  right  hand  has  grasped  him  firmly  by  the  wrist, 
thus  endeavouring  to  check  his  flight  as  he  starts  away 
in  fear;  at  the  same  time  she  spreads  her  wings,  and 
with  an  upward  glance  indicates  whither  she  wishes  to 
convey  him.  From  a  red-figured  kylix  signed  by 
Hicron  (early  fifth  century  b.c),  in  the  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts,  Boston  (photograph).     See  pp.  71-73. 


;     i 

IflHH 

^ 

■          '     i 

.   ! 

'  Jii^' 

1 

1 

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li! 

>{   1 

1 

ij 

1 

jL 

11 

r, 

X 

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rl!T 

MYTHS  OF  CRETE  AND  ATTIKE 


73 


as  they  were  hunting  together,  he  slew  her  by  mistake  with 
her  own  javelin,  whereupon,  appearing  before  the  court  of 
Areopagos,  he  was  adjudged  guilty  and  banished  for  life  from 
the  bounds  of  Attike.    His  exile  coincided  in  time  with  his 
receipt  of  a  request  from  Amphitryon  that  he  go  to  Thebes 
with  his  unerring  hound,  and  rid  the  countr>-  of  the  she-fox 
that  was  ravaging  the  crops  and  people.    This  animal's  life 
seemed  to  have  been  protected  by  a  charm  so  that  none  could 
take  her,  and  rach  month  the  Thebans  used  to  send  a  youth 
to  her  for  her  to  devour.    Kephalos,  bribed  by  the  offer  of  a 
portion  of  Taphian  booty,  went  to  Thebes  and  put  his  dog  on 
the  trail  of  the  ravenous  beast;  but  the  dog  never  overtook 
her,  for  in  the  midst  of  the  pursuit  Zeus  changed  them  both  to 
stone.  Kephalos  was  given  his  reward,  however,  and  withdrew  to 
a  western  island  thenceforth  to  be  known  as  Kephallenia,  where, 
brooding  over  his   unhappy  love,  he  committed   suicide  by 
throwing  himself  from  the  white  cliffs  of  the  island.   The  chief 
figure  in  the  original  story  seems  to  have  been  only  Kephalos, 
Prokris  being  a  later  addition.   The  legend  arose  from  the  very 
ancient  expiatory  ritual  in  which  a  human  beine  bore  the  burden 
of  sin  to  be  expiated,  and,  leaping  into  the  sea,  was  drowned. 
Or^Myia.  —  Oreithyia,    the    remaining    daughter    of    Ere- 
chtheus,  was  once  playing  with  her  companions  on  the  bank  of 
the  Ilisos,  or,  as  one  source  of  the  myth  states,  was  on  her 
way  to  the  Acropolis  to  sacrifice  to  Athene,  when  Boreas,  the 
north  wind,  suddenly  seized  her  and  carried  her  off  to  his  home 
in  Thrace.   There  he  forct  d  her  to  wed  him,  and  she  bore  to 
him  two  winged  sons,  Zetes  and  Kala'is,  who  afterward  sailed 
on  the  Argo  and  were  killed  in  the  pursuit  of  the  Harpies. 
The  substance  of  this  legend  was  not  originally  a  product  of 
the  Attic  fancy;  rather,  it  is  an  embellishment  of  a  wide- 
spread belief  that  in  the  turmoil  of  the  storm  the  passionate 
wind-god  seeks  his  bride.   Perhaps  to  the  Athenians  Orcithyia 
represented  the  morning  mist  of  the  valley-lands  driven  away 
by  the  strong  clear  winds  of  day. 


I 

h  I 

V     - 

4  I 

i  (  I 

-1  t  1 


II 


^  I 


w 


i 


a 


|t 


74 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


Boreas  and  Orcithyia  also  had  two  daughters,  Kleopatra  and 
Chionc  ("Snow-White").  The  former  married  Phineus,  to 
whom  she  bore  two  sons,  but  her  husband  grew  tired  of  her 
and  formed  an  aUiance  with  Idaia  of  Troy,  by  whoso  heartless 
wiles  he  was  persuaded  to  put  out  his  children's  eyes.  This 
crime  was  never  forgotten  throughout  Hellas,  and  with  the 
help  of  Boreas  the  Argonauts  visited  on  Phineus  a  dreadful 
punishment.  Chione  became  closely  associated  with  Attike 
through  her  descendants.  After  a  clandestine  amour  with 
i'oseidon  she  gave  birth  to  a  son  Eumolpos  ("Sweet  Singer"), 
whom  she  cast  into  the  sea  in  fear  of  her  father;  but  Poseidon 
rescued  him  and  had  him  cared  for  in  Aithiopia  until  he  had 
attained  manhood.  For  a  foul  crime  against  hospitality 
Eumolpos  was  forced  to  leave  this  country  and  with  his  son, 
Ismaros,  was  received  into  the  home  of  a  Thracian  king,  where, 
too,  he  showed  himself  ungrateful  for  kindness,  and  plotted 
against  his  host.  Leaving  Thrace,  he  came  at  last  to  Eleusis, 
and  in  the  war  against  Athens  he  led  the  Eleusinian  army 
and  fell  by  the  sword  of  Erechtheus.  This  latter  myth  contains 
several  features  whiJi  incline  one  to  believe  that  Eumolpos 
was  a  figure  deliberately  created  by  the  Eumolpidai,  the 
priestly  order  of  Eleusis,  for  the  purpose  of  winning  the  re- 
spect which  would  readily  come  to  religious  orders  of  admit- 
tedly ancient  descent.  The  Thracian  connexion  of  Eumolpos 
linked  him  geographically  with  Dionysos  and  increased  his 
prestige  at  Eleusis. 


CHAPTER  V 


HI 


HERAKLES 

HERAKLES  is  a  bewildering  compound  of  god  and  hero. 
While  he  may  properly  be  called  the  most  heroic  of  the 
Grecian  gods,  he  cannot  with  equal  propriety  be  termed  the 
most  divine  of  the  heroes.   Indeed,  so  far  is  he  from  possessing 
that  dignity  which  becomes  a  god  that  some  writers  have  argued 
his  claim  to  divinity  to  be  merely  an  inference  from   his    ex- 
ploits.  But  whether  god  or  hero,  or  both  god  and  hero,  Hera- 
kles  represents  the  Greek  idealization  of  mere  bigness.  Every- 
thing about  him  is  big  — his  person,  his  weapon,  his  journeys, 
his  enemies,  his  philanthropy,  his  sins,  and  his  sense  of  humour. 
To  explain  him  as  a  degenerate  Zeus,  as  some  do,  may  account 
for  his  origin,  but  it  will  nox  give  the  reason  for  more  than 
his  initial  popularity.    His  hold  on  the  people  through  many 
centuries  was  due  to  his  colossal  humanity;  in  him  men  could 
see  their  ideal  for  every  moment  of  the  day  and  the  consum- 
mation of  every  aspiration,  whether  good  or  bad.    Now  and 
again  Zeus  or  Apollo  would  stoop  to  the   level  of  a  weak 
humanity,  but  an  apology,  open  or  tacit,  generally  followed. 
For  Herakles,  on  the  contrary,  no  apology  was  forthcoming. 
Men  took  him  as  he  was,  and  ignored  his  flouting  of  moral 
laws  as  a  necessary  accompaniment  to  the  achievement  of 
big  thmgs.   He  was  "big  business"  personified,  and  the  petty 
restrictions  that  hampered  lesser  beings  were  impertinent  as 
regarding  him.  Thus  he  represented  a  phase  of  Greek  idealism 
which  rebelled  against  the  cold  and  soaring  idealism  of  the 
thinkers,  and  embodied  the  frank  confession  of  all  classes  of 
the  Hellenic  populace  that  the  more  spiritual  elements  of  their 


¥i 


in 


i 


I 


76  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

advanced  civilization  were  not  as  yet  perfect  instruments 
for  securing  and  maintaining  the  welfare  of  human  society. 
The  story  of  Heraklcs'  rejection  of  Aphrodite  and  his  choice 
of  Athene  at  the  parting  of  the  ways  makes  a  very  pretty 
apologue,  but  it  does  not  reveal  to  us  the  Heraklcs  whom  the 
Greeks  knew;  rather  he  is  here  put  on  exhibition  as  a  sort  of 
reformed  '"character"  by  those  who  know  and  fear  the  effects 
of  his  moral  example. 

At  the  earliest  point  to  which  he  can  be  traced  Herakles 
seems  to  have  been  a  hero  of  Tiryns  in  Argolis,  but  his  exploits 
were  narrated  in  Rhodian  sagai  and  carried  by  the  ubiquitous 
Rhodian  sailors  to  many  ports  of  the  Mediterranean.  In 
various  places  the  sagas  were  modified  and  enlarged  by  foisting 
stories  of  purely  local  origin  on  Herakles,  until,  as  his  fame 
spread,  some  poet  was  inspired  to  assemble  the  many  sagas 
under  one  title  and  to  give  to  the  world  the  first  version  of  the 
Labours.  Herakles  was  apparently  not  at  first  the  possession 
of  all  thi;  Dorians,  but  became  their  hero  par  excellence  through 
the  influence  of  the  Delphic  oracle,  perhaps  not  later  than  700 

B.C.* 

The  Birth  of  Herakles.  —  When  Perseus  died,  he  left  behind 

him  in  Mykenai  four  sons,  Alkaios,  Sthenelos,  Mestor,  and 

Elektryon,  the  descendants  of  all  of  whom  enter  in  soxu  .  way 

or  other  into  the  story  of  Heraklcs.   Alkaios  had  a  son  Ampn^t- 

xyon;  Elektryon,   a   daughter  i^'kmene,   and,   besides  L^vful 

sons,  a  natural  suu  Likymnios;  Sthenelos,  a  son  Eurystheus; 

and  Mestor,  a  daughter  who  bore  to  Poseidon  a  son,  Taphios, 

the  colonizer  of  the  island  of  Taphos.    During  the  reign  of 

Elektryon  in  Mykenai,  Pterelaos,  a  son  of  Taphios,  came  thither 

with  his  people  and  demanded  a  share  of  Mestor's  kingdom, 

but,  failing  ignominiously  in  their  errand,  they  attacked  the 

sons    of    Elektryon   and    slaughtered    all    except    Likymnios. 

When  the  battle  was  over  their  fellow  Taphians  saiied  away 

to  Ells  with  Elektryon's  cattle,  although  not  long  afterward 

Amphitryon  redeemed  them  and  brought  them  back  to  My- 


I     i 


tiilll  • 


\ii\ 


PLATE    XXI 
Herakles  and  the  Lion  of  Nemea 
HcraklM  is  leaning  forward,  his  knees  almost  touch- 
-ng  the  ground,  and  is  throwing  the  weight  of  his  body 
on  the  l,on  s  head  and  shoulders;  at  the  same  time  with 
h.s  nght  hand  he  seizes  the  beast  by  a  hind  quarter  and 
powerfuilv  draws  it  toward  himself,  while  his  left  arm 
passing  under  the  l.on's  throat,  is  choking  him  to  death. 
1  he  hero  s  c,u,ver  and  sheathed  sword  are  suspended  in 
the  background.     Athene,  partly  armed,  stands  at  the 
left  eagerly  watching  the  fray.     From  a  black-figured 
a^phon,  of  about  500  „.c.,  found  at  Gela  {Monum.nti 
^nuch,,  xvM,  Plate  XL).     See  pp.  80-81. 


r 

( 

1 

7 

i 

f 

i 

! 

^ 

iifp^ 

HERAKLES 


77 


kcnai.    Elcktryon,  bound  on  exacting  vengeance  for  the  out- 
rage,  assigned  the  affairs  of  state  to  Amphitryon  and  betrothed 
his  daughter  Alkmcnc  to  hin.  on  the  condition  that  the  mar- 
riage be  deferred  until  the  outcome  of  the  expedition  should 
be  known;  but  aftcf  making  these  arrangements,  and  when 
about  to  take  back  his  cattle,  a  missile  from  the  hand  of  Am- 
phitryon, probably  wholly  by  accident,  struck  him  and  killed 
him.    With  the  stain  of  family  blood  upon  him,  Amphitryon 
fled  with  his  betrothed  to  Thebes  and  allowed  the  power  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  Sthenelos,  but  in  their  new  home  Alk- 
mcne  promised  him  she  would  ignore  the  strict  letter  of  the 
terms  of  their  betrothal  and  would  wed  him  should  he  avenge 
the  murder  of  her  brothers  at  the  hands  of  their  Taph.an 
kinsmen.  He  met  the  promise  by  leading  a  weli-equipped  army 
of  Thebans  and  their  allies  against  Taphos.   Although  he  was 
successful   in  his  numerous  raids,  he  was  unable  to  secure  a 
decisive  victory  as  long  as  Pterclaos  was  alive,  for  this  man, 
not  unlike  Nisos  of  Megara,  had  growing  in  his  head  a  golden 
hair,  on  the  continued  possession  of  which  hung  the  fate  of 
himself  and  of  his  kingdom.   Crazed  with  love  for  Amphitryon, 
Pterelaos's  daughter  plucked  the  hair  from  her  father's  head 
and  by  that  act  surrendered  her  country  to  its  enemies,  but, 
filled  with  contempt  for  her  treason,  the  victor  killed  her  and 
took  to  Th.'-'bes  the  booty  of  Taphos. 

Now  in  Amphitryon's  absence  Alkmene  had  been  visited 
by  Zeus  in  the  guise  of  her  husband  and  by  him  had  become 
with  child,  so  that  when  the  real  Amphitryon  returned,  he 
and  his  wife  were  confronted  with  a  perplexing  domestic  rid- 
dle which  was  not  satisfactorily  solved  till  more  than  a  year 
had  passed.  Just  before  Alkmene  gave  birth  to  her  child,  a 
scene  was  enacted  on  Olympos  which  had  a  profound  influence 
on  the  child's  career.  The  event  is  well  described  in  the  words 
of  Agamemnon  in  the  Iliad.^ 

"Yea  even  Zeus  was  blinded  upon  a  time,  he  who  they  say 
is  greatest  among  gods  and  men;  yet  even  him  Hera  with 


m 


78 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


female  wile  deceived,  on  the  day  when  Alknicne  in  fair-crowned 
Thebes  was  to  bring  forth  the  strengtii  of  Herakles.  For  then 
proclaimed  he  solemnly  among  all  the  gods:  'Hear  me  ye  all, 
both  gods  and  goddesses,  while  I  utter  the  counsel  of  my  soul 
within  my  heart.  This  day  shall  Eiieithyia,  the  help  of  tra- 
vailing women,  bring  to  the  light  a  man  who  shall  be  lord  over 
all  that  dwell  round  about,  among  the  race  of  men  who  are 
sprung  of  me  by  blood.'  And  to  him  in  subtlety  queen  Hera 
spake:  'Thou  wilt  play  the  cheat  and  not  accomplish  thy  word. 
Conie  now.  Olympian,  swear  me  a  firm  oath  that  verily  end 
indeed  shall  that  man  be  lord  over  all  that  dwell  round  about, 
who  this  day  shall  fall  between  a  woman's  feet,  even  he  among 
all  men  who  are  of  the  lineage  of  thy  blood.'  So  spake  she,  and 
Zeus  no  wise  perceived  her  subtlety,  but  swarc  a  mighty  oath, 
and  therewith  was  he  sore  blinded.  For  Hera  darted  from 
Olympos'  peak,  and  came  swiftly  to  Achaian  Argos,  where  she 
knew  was  the  stately  wife  of  Sthenelos  the  son  of  Perseus,  who 
also  was  great  with  child,  and  her  seventh  month  was  come. 
Her  son  Hera  brought  to  the  light,  thoujh  his  tale  of  months 
was  untold,  but  she  stayed  Alkmene's  bearing  and  kept  the 
Eileithyiai  from  her  aid.  Then  she  brought  the  tidings  herself 
and  to  Kronos'  son  Zeus  she  spake:  'Father  Zeus  of  the  bright 
lightning,  a  word  will  I  speak  to  thee  for  thy  heed.  To-day  is 
born  a  man  of  valour  who  shall  rule  among  the  Argives,  Eurys- 
theus,  son  of  Sthenelos  the  son  of  Perseus,  of  thy  lineage; 
not  unmeet  is  it  that  he  be  lord  among  Argivc:,.'  She  said,  but 
sharp  pain  smote  him  in  the  depths  of  his  soul,  and  straight- 
way he  seized  Ate  by  her  bright-haired  head  in  the  anger  of  his 
soul,  and  sware  a  mighty  oath  that  never  again  to  Olympos 
and  the  starry  heaven  should  Ate  come  who  blindeth  all 
alike.  He  said,  and  whirling  her  in  his  hand  flung  her  from  the 
starry  heaven,  and  quickly  came  she  down  among  the  works 
of  men.  Yet  ever  he  groaned  against  her  when  he  beheld  his 
beloved  son  in  cruel  travail  at  Eurystheus'  hest."  When  at 
length  Alkmene's  full  time  had  come,  she  gave  birth  to  Herakles 


HERAKLES 


79 


and  Iphiklcs,  the  one  the  son  of  the  deceiving  Zeus  and  the  other 
born  of  Amphitryon. 

Childhood  and  Youth  of  Ilerakles. —  When  Herakles  was 
only  eight  months  old,  Hera  sent  two  great  serpents  to  his  bed 
to  destroy  him;  but  a  measure  of  the  strength  of  mature  years 
had  come  to '  -m  and  he  rose  and  strangled  them  unaided.  There 
is  a  ver/.on  of  U;:<  story  to  the  cflFect  that  Amphitryon,  in  order 
to  dete;  nine  wliich  of  me  two  boys  was  really  his  son,  put  the 
serpent,  in.o  the  bed  containing  the  children,  the  flight  of 
Iphikles  proving  liin.  to  be  the  offspring  of  a  mortal. 

Under  the  instruction  of  a  number  of  the  famous  heroes, 
Herakles  was  taught  the  accomplishments  becoming  a  man, 
chariot-driving,  wrestling,  archery,  fighting  in  armour,  and 
music.  His  teacher  on  the  zither  was  Linos,  the  brother  of 
Orpheus,  but  in  this  branch  he  was  less  apt  than  in  the  others, 
so  that  once  when  Linos  had  occasion  to  punish  him  for  his 
lack  of  diligence,  Herakles  hurled  his  zither  at  him  and  killed 
him.  After  trial  for  murder,  he  was  acquitted  through  his 
clever  quotation  of  a  law  of  Rhadamanthys,  but  his  father, 
fearing  another  outburst  of  violence,  sent  him  to  the  glades  as 
a  herder  and  there  he  grew  in  strength  and  stature  and  in  skill 
with  the  lance  and  the  bowr.  His  height  was  now  four  cubits, 
and  his  eye  flashed  fire  like  that  of  a  true  son  of  Zeus. 

Early  Manhood  of  Herakles.  —  About  the  time  when  Hera- 
kles was  on  the  verge  of  manhood,  he  determined  to  kill  a 
lion  which  was  ravaging  his  flocks  and  herds  on  the  slopes  of 
Kithairon.  By  using  Thespiai  as  a  base  of  operations,  he  at 
length  achieved  his  task,  and  flaying  the  beast  he  took  its 
skin  as  a  cloak.  As  he  was  on  his  homeward  journey,  he  met 
heralds  of  Erginos,  king  of  the  Minyans,  going  to  Thebes  to 
get  the  annual  tribute  of  the  city.  Herakles  seized  them, 
lopped  off  their  cars  and  noses,  bound  their  hands  to  their 
nocks,  and  sent  them  back  thus  to  their  own  land.  Erginos 
dispatched  an  army  against  Thebes,  but  in  the  battle  which 
ensued  he  was  killed  by  Herakles,  and  the  Minyans  had  from 


'I'  'H 


ii  11; 


:r 


i   i  it. 


8o 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   Xn'THOLOGY 


that  day  to  pay  t(  Thebes  double  the  tribute  which  Thebes 
had  formerly  rendered  to  them.  As  a  compensation  for  his 
efforts  in  arms  Ilerakles  was  given  Megara,  Kreon's  daughter, 
as  his  wife,  who  in  tiie  course  of  time  bore  him  three  children. 

The  Madness  of  Ilerakles.  —  Herakles'  successes  heated  the 
jealous  wrath  of  Hera  and  she  visited  a  terrible  madness  upon 
the  hero,  who,  not  knowing  what  he  did,  killed  his  own  chil- 
dren and  those  of  his  brother  Iphikles,  some  with  his  bow,  some 
by  fire,  and  some  with  his  sword.  When  he  came  to  himself, 
o\-erwhclmed  nith  remorse  he  left  Thebes  and  went  to Thespiai, 
where  he  was  ceremonially  purified  of  his  sin.  He  departed 
thence  for  Delphoi,  where,  in  Apollo's  shrine,  the  priestess 
uttered  this  prophecy:  "From  this  day  forth  thy  name  shall 
no  more  be  Alkeidcs  but  Herakles.  In  Tiryns  thou  shalt  make 
tiiine  abode,  and  there,  serving  Eurystheus,  shalt  thou  accom- 
plish thy  labours.  When  this  shall  be,  thou  shalt  become  one 
of  the  immortals."  With  the  words  ringing  in  his  ears,  Hera- 
kles set  out  for  Tiryns  wearing  a  robe,  the  gift  of  Athene,  and 
carrying  the  arms  which  the  gods  had  given  him  —  the  sword  of 
Hermes,  the  bow  of  Apollo,  the  bronze  breastplate  of  Hephais- 
tos,  and  a  great  club  which  he  had  himself  cut  in  Nemea. 

The  Tiftke  Lab-  rs  of  Herakles;^  First  Labour.  —  The 
first  labour  which  Eurystheus  enjoined  on  Herakles  was  to 
kill  the  lion  of  Nemea,  the  seed  of  Typhon,  and  to  bring  its 
skin  to  Tiryns,  although  nc  man  had  been  able  as  yet  even  to 
wound  the  beast.  Going  to  Nemea,  Herakles  found  its  trail, 
which  he  follcAvcd  until  it  led  him  to  a  cavern  with  two  mouths, 
one  of  which  he  blocked  up,  and,  entering  by  the  other,  grappled 
with  the  lion  and  choked  him  to  death.  From  Nemea  to  My- 
kenai  he  carried  the  body  on  his  shoulders.  Eurystheus  stood 
aghast  at  the  sight  of  the  monstrous  creature  and  at  these 
proofs  of  Herakles'  superhuman  strength,  and  in  his  fear  he 
prepared  a  storage-jar  in  which  to  hide,  forbidding  Herakles 
ever  to  enter  his  gates  again,  and  henceforth  issuing  his  orders 
through  heralds.  As  for  Herakles,  he  turned  this  his  first  labour 


HERAKLES 


8l 


to  good  account,  for  from  that  day  he  wore  the  lion's  skin, 
which  no  weapon  could  penetrate,  at  once  as  a  cloak  and  a 
sbield. 

Second   Labour.  —  In   the   springs   and    swamps   of   Lerne 
dwelt  a  huge  hydra  which  used  to  lay  waste  the  lands  round 
about,  and  to  ensure  his  death  Hcrakles  was  sent  against  this 
creature,   from  whose  enormous  body  grew  nine  heads,  the 
middle  one  being  immortal.    The  monster  had  defied  all  at- 
tempts to  capture  or  to  kill  it,  and  had  brought  many  strong 
men  low;  but  finding  the  creature  crouching  sullenly  in  its 
lair,  the  hero  forced  it  out  by  means  of  flaming  missiles  and 
grasped  it  at  the  same  instant  that  it  scizcfl  him.   Stoutly  swing- 
ing his  club,  he  knocked  off  the  hydra's  heads  one  by     le,  but 
to  his  alarm  two  heads  grew  in  the  place  of  each  one  that  he 
destroyed,  while  a  huge  crab  came  to  the  aid  of  the  hydra  and 
gripped  its  assailant  by  the  foot.    This  crab  Herakles  easily 
killed   and   then,  with  the   assistance  of   his   nephew  lolaos, 
burned  away  the  hydra's  newly  sprouting  heads.   At  last  he  cut 
off  the  deathless  head  and  placed  it  under  a  heavy  stone,  lest 
it  rise  to  life  again,  and  in  the  monster's  gall  he  dipped  all  his 
arrowheads.  The  achievement  of  killing  the  hydra  Eurystheus 
quibblingly  disallowed  on  the  ground  that  Herakles  had  not 
performed  it  alone. 

Third  Labour.  —  Herakles  was  next  ordered  to  proceed  to 
a  mountain  range  in  the  north  of  the  Peloponnesos  and  to 
carry  away  alive  the  Keryneian  doe,  which  had  golden  horns 
and  was  sacred  to  Artemis.  So  swift  of  foot  was  it  that  it  led 
the  hero  a  weary  chase  for  a  whole  year,  but  finally  its  strength 
flagged  and  it  fled  across  the  mountain  of  Artemision  to  the 
banks  of  the  river  Ladon,  where  Herakles  took  it  alive.  Apollo 
and  Artemis,  however,  disputed  his  rights  to  his  prize,  and 
Artemis  even  accused  him  of  trying  to  kill  her  sacred  animal, 
but  by  adroitly  laying  the  blame  on  another,  Herakles  was  at 
length  allowed  to  bear  the  doe  on  his  broad  shoulders  to 
Mykenai. 


in 


ill 


III 


'Hi 


'     .1 


H 


\\m 


82 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M-iTHOLOGY 


Fourth  Labour.  —  Still  another  beast  of  the  wild  was  he  com- 
manded to  capture  alive  —  the  fierce  boar  that  came  forth 
from  the  ridges  of  Erj'manthos  and  wasted  '  >\vn  of  Psophis. 
Herakles  went  to  the  mountain  and  was  ent  Lained  by  Pholos 
a  Centaur,  who,  yielding  to  his  guest's  importunate  request 
for  wine  to  give  zest  to  their  repast  of  meats,  opened  a  jar 
taken  from  the  Centaurs'  common  store.  The  other  Centaurs 
of  the  neighbourhood  sniffed  the  aroma  of  the  wine  and  in  a 
belligerent  mood  gathered  about  the  dwelling  of  Pholos,  where- 
upon Herakles  attacked  them,  killing  some  and  routing  the 
others,  so  that  they  took  refuge  with  the  wise  Centaur,  Chei- 
ron.  Unfortunately,  an  arrow  shot  at  them  chanced  to  hit 
Cheiron,  inflicting  a  wound  which  Herakles  would  have 
healed,  had  not  the  pain  of  it  driven  the  Centaur  to  exchange 
his  immortality  for  the  mortality  of  Prometheus  and  thus 
voluntarily  to  die.  After  this,  by  another  unhappy  accident, 
Pholos  was  killed  by  dropping  one  of  Herakles'  poisoned  ar- 
rows on  his  foot.  When  the  hero  had  buried  his  friend,  he  pur- 
sued the  boar  high  up  the  slopes  of  Erymanthos  to  the  deep 
snow  and  snared  it;  and  on  his  arrival  at  Mykenai  with  the 
huge  creature  Eurystheus  hid  in  the  great  jar. 

fifth  Labour.  —  Augeias,  King  of  Elis,  had  so  many  herds  of 
cows  and  goats  that  the  oflFal  from  them  had  accumulated  until 
all  tillage  was  stopped.  Eurystheus  ordered  Herakles  to  clean 
away  the  nuisance,  and,  going  to  Augeias,  the  hero  offered  to 
perform  the  task  on  the  stipulation  that  he  should  receive  one 
tenth  of  the  flocks  and  herds,  to  which  the  king  hesitatingly 
agreed.  Without  delay  Herakles  broke  down  a  larf^e  part  of 
the  foundations  of  the  stables  and  through  the  breach  thus 
made  diverted  the  united  waters  of  the  rivers  Alpheios  and 
Penclos,  thus  flushing  the  filth  entirely  away.  Augeias,  with 
the  scrupulosity  of  an  Eurystheus,  now  withheld  the  prom- 
ised reward  on  the  ground  that  Herakles  was  acting  at  the 
command  of  another  and  not  of  his  own  free  will.  "But,"  he 
add'.-ii,  "I  will  submit  the  question  to  arbitration."  His  sincer- 


I 

i 


I  i  •    "" 


h 


Sll 


IM' 


PLATE   XXII 

Hfrakles  and   the  Hydra 

Herakles,  wearing  the  protecting  lion-skin,  in  his 
left  hand  grasps  one  of  the  hydra's  many  heads  and  is 
about  to  cut  it  olF  with  the  sword  held  in  his  right 
hand.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  monster  the  hel- 
mcted  lolaos  is  imitating  his  master's  manner  of  attack. 
With  its  free  heads  the  hydra  is  biting  fiercely  at  its 
assailants.  Behind  Herakles  stand  Athene,  identified 
by  the  branch  of  olive  in  her  hand,  and  Hermes.  The 
identity  of  the  three  women  next  lolaos  is  unknown. 
From  a  black-figured  Eretrian  amphora  of  the  sixth 
centuH'  B.C.,  in  Athens  (Catalogue  des  vases  feints  du 
muiie  national  d'Jthines,  Supplement  par  Georges  Nicole, 
Plate  IX).     See  p.  8i. 


im 

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■n  '■■'. 

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1  ■ 

\ 

1 

1        f   .• 

1 
1 

t  lj.{MB| 

'sT  i^^H^B 

'1  ^^^^H 

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fiin-^     i 

^mMI^hbI 

^^^^^H 

WM 

mMSj^t 

HERAKLES 


83 


Fio.  3A.    The  Erymanthiam  Boar  at  Mykenai 
H«akles   lifting  the  struggling  boar  by  the  hind  quarters,  forces  the  creature  for- 
ward on  hs'  ore  legs  only.    The  hero's  lion-skin,  quiver,  and  sheathed  sword  are  shown 
Tuspended  in  the  background,  while  hi,  great  club  leans  obhquely  m  the  lower  left- 
hand  corner. 


ij  i 


11 


mh 


\' 


Fig.  3B.    The  Flight  of  Eurtstheus 

Eurystheus  with  garments  flying  in  the  wind  hastens  ^^'^''^^  himself  in  the  great 
fuhos.  or  storage-jar.    The  female  figure  facing  h>m  may  be  Hera,     j^rom  a  black 
figured  amphora  oi  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  found  at  Gela  (Monum^nu  AnUch,  xvu, 
Plate  IX). 


i  -: 
i  ■ 


ff^Hi 


84 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


ity  was  soon  put  to  the  test,  for  when  his  own  son  reproved 
him  for  his  inpratitude,  he  turned  both  son  and  benefactor 
"ut  of  t!ie  country.  This  labour,  too,  Eurystheus  refused  to 
place  to  the  credit  of  Herakles  for  the  teclinical  reason  that 
he  had  bargained  for  a  reward.  The  storj-  seems  to  be  an 
old  folk-tale. 

Sixth  Labour.  —  Herakles'  ne.\t  errand  was  to  clear  the 
marshes  of  Arkadian  Stymphalos  of  the  man-eating  birds  which 
used  to  congregate  there,  .  id  which,  owing  to  the  dense 
growtli  of  underbrush  and  trees  bordering  on  the  marshes, 
were  difficult  of  access.  But  .\thenc  came  to  the  help  of 
Herakles  and  gave  him  some  brazen  cymbals  by  the  clashing 
of  which  he  compelled  the  birds  to  take  to  the  air;  and  as  they 
circled  above  his  head,  he  shot  them  down  one  by  one  with 
his  unerring  arrows.  It  is  probable  that  these  birds  typified 
a  pestilence  that  arose  from  the  areas  of  stagnant  water. 

Sr.rnlh  Labour.  —  With  this  labour  Herakles  began  his  ac- 
tivities outside  the  Peloponnesos,  being  sent  by  his  task- 
master to  Crete  to  lead  thence  to  the  mainland  the  beautiful 
bull  which  Poseidon  had  caused  to  be  born  from  the  sea  for 
the  sacrifice  of  Minos.  Mastering  the  powerful  creature,  he 
rode  it  through  the  sea  to  Tiryns  and  from  there  drove  it  over- 
land to  M\kenai,  where  it  was  loosed;  but  instead  of  remaining 
here,  it  roamed  all  over  the  land,  mangling  men  and  women 
as  it  went,  until  it  was  slain  in  Marathon  by  Theseus. 

Eighth  Labour.  —  It  was  to  the  no;  hern  land  of  Thrace 
that  Herakles  was  next  dispatched,  his  task  being  to  subdue 
and  catch  the  man-eating  horses  of  Diomedes,  the  son  of 
Arcs  and  the  king  of  the  Bistonians.  By  main  strength  he 
seized  them  and  dragged  them  to  the  sea,  but  at  this  point  the 
Bistonians  harassed  him  to  such  a  degree  that  he  gave  the 
steeds  to  his  companion  Abderos  to  guard.  While  he  was  en- 
gaged in  routing  the  foe,  the  horses  killed  Abderos,  who  was 
buried  by  Herakles  with  the  customary  rites,  and  beside  whose 
tomb  the  city  of  Abdera  was  founded  by  the  hero.    On  re- 


IlERAKLES 


85 


cciving  the  horses,  Eurysthcus  immediately  loosed  them  as  he 
had  the  bull,  and  they,  rushing  off  to  the  highlands,  were  har- 
ried to  death  by  the  wild  beasts. 

Ninth  Labour.  —  Prior  to  this  labour  the  strength  of  Hcra- 
kles  had  been  pitted  against  beasts  and  men  only,  but  now 
Eur>-stheus  directed  him  to  match  it  against  the  warrior- 
women,  the  Amazons,  who  lived  in  a  remote  district  of  Asia 
Minor  near  the  shores  of  the  Euxinc.  Their  chief  interest 
was  war  and  only  indirectly  that  of  motherhood,  and  of  all 
the  children  to  wl'iom  they  gave  birth  they  reared  the  females 
only,  whose  right  breasts  they  cut  off  so  as  not  to  interfere  with 
proper  handling  of  the  bow.  Their  queen  was  Ilippolyte,  a 
favourite  of  Ares,  who  had  given  her  a  beautiful  girdle  as  a 
token  of  her  prowess  in  arms,  and  to  win  this  cincture  was  the 
errand  of  Herakles. 

Sailing  from  Greece  with  a  group  of  companions,  the  hero 
touched  at  Paros  and  warred  on  the  sons  of  Minos.  Thence  he 
proceeded  to  King  Lykos  of  Mysia,  whose  territories  he  in- 
creased by  the  conquest  of  neighbouring  tribes,  and  at  last 
he  reached  the  port  of  Themiskyra,  where  Hippolyte  visited 
him  to  learn  the  object  of  his  mission.  To  his  surprise  she  prom- 
ised to  surrender  lier  girdle  without  a  struggle,  but  Hera,  in 
the  guise  of  an  Amazon,  stirred  up  the  women  against  him  and 
Herakles,  suspecting  a  plot  in  the  ready  promise,  summarily 
slew  their  queen  and  sailed  homeward  with  the  prize. 

His  route  led  him  past  Troy,  and,  landing  there,  he  found  the 
city  in  the  throes  of  a  dreadful  calamity.  Years  before  Apollo 
and  Poseidon  had  jointly  built  the  walls  of  the  town  for  its 
king  Laomedon  on  condition  of  receiving  a  certain  recompense. 
This,  however,  had  never  been  given  to  them,  wherefore,  in 
anger,  Apollo  afflicted  Troy  with  a  plague  and  Poseidon  sent 
a  monster  to  devour  the  people  as  they  went  about  the  plain. 
Just  before  the  hero's  arrival,  Laomedon,  in  order  to  spare 
his  citizens,  had  bound  his  daughter  Hesione  to  the  sea- 
rocks  as  a  prey  for  the  monster,  and  Herakles  pledged  him- 


;  i 


I  i 


f!! 


lib 


86 


CRKKK   AM)   ROMAN    MVrHOIXX^V 


si'lf  to  slay  it  aiul  save  Hcsidiic  sIkuiIcI  tin-  horses  which  Zeus 
had  ^'iven  I.aomedori  for  the  theft  of  (lanymedes  he  surrendered 
to  him.  He  performed  liis  part  of  the  contract  by  leaping'  down 
into  the  monster's  throat  and  cutting  liis  way  out  throuj,'h  its 
belK',  but  the  Trojans  failed  to  fulfil  tiieirs,  whereupon,  breath- 
ing out  threats  of  a  later  punishment,  Herakles  embarked  in 
his  ship  and  sailed  to  Mykenai  witli  his  prize.  Many  scholars 
arc  now  inclined  to  think  that  the  original  models  of  the 
Amazons  were  the  Hittitcs,  whose  strange  customs  and  ap- 
parel seemed  to  the  Hellenes  to  bo  strikingly  feminine.* 

Tt-nth  Labour.  —  Near  the  distant  river  of  Okcanos  was  an 
island  called  Erytheia,  where  lived  Gcryoneus,  son  of  Chry- 
saor  and  the  nymph  Kalliroe.  He  was  a  human  monster  with 
three  bodies  instead  of  one,  and  he  was  known  all  over  the 
world  for  his  herd  of  red  cattle  which  were  guarded  by  Eury- 
tion  and  the  two-headed  dog  Orthos,  a  brother  of  the  hell- 
hound Kerberos.  Herakles  was  assigned  the  task  of  driving  this 
herd  to  Mykenai.  Crossing  Europe,  he  came  to  the  straits 
between  that  continent  and  Africa  and  set  up  two  pillars 
as  memorials  of  his  journey.  Here  Helios  beat  so  hotly  upon 
his  head  that  he  shot  an  arrow  at  him,  and  in  admiration  for 
his  attempt  of  the  impossible  Helios  gave  him  a  golden  cup  in 
which  he  crossed  Okcanos  and  reached  Erytheia.  With  his 
club  he  easily  put  the  warders  of  the  herd  out  of  the  way,  but 
it  was  only  after  a  long  struggle  that  he  killed  Gerj-oneus 
himself  with  an  arrow.  Gathering  the  cattle  into  the  cup  of 
Helios,  he  transported  them  to  Europe  and  drove  them  east- 
ward overland  in  successive  stages.  At  Rhcgion  a  bull  broke 
loose,  and,  swimming  the  straits  to  Sicily,  mingled  with  the 
herds  of  King  Ery.x,  and  when  Erj'x  resisted  an  attempt  to 
regain  the  animal,  Herakles  wrestled  with  him  and  threw 
him  to  his  death.  From  the  toe  of  Italy  to  the  extremity  of  the 
Adriatic  the  cattle  were  driven,  and  thence  to  the  Hellespont, 
but  many  of  them,  maddened  by  a  gad-fly  sent  by  Hera,  wan- 
dered away  from  the  main  herd  and  were  lost  in  the  wild  lands 


IIKRAKLKS 


87 


of  Thrace.    When  Hc-rakUs  arrived  at  Mykcnai,  he  sacrifued 
the  rest  of  the  herd  to  Hera. 

Eleventh   Labour. -—T\w   ten   luoours   had   consumed   eight 
years  and  one  month,  but  the  end  was  not  yet,  for,  owing  to 
the  quil)bling  of  Eurystheus,  the  ten  counted  as  only  eight. 
To  complete  the  prescribed  number  Eurystheus  enjoined  two 
more,  in  the  first  of  which  Herakles  was  required  to  bring  back 
the  Colden  Apples  of  the  Hesperidcs  ("Daughters  of  the  Even- 
inp-Land").     These  apples  were  very  precious,  having  once 
been  the  wedding-gift  of  Zeus  to  Hera,  and  to  obtain  them 
was  perhaps  the  most  difTicult  of  all  the  labours  of  Herakles, 
for  they  were  guarded  not  only  by  the  Hesperides  but  also  by 
a  deathless  dragon  of  one  hundred   heads,  besides  all  which 
the  hero  did  not  yet  know   in   just  what  part  of  the  world 
they  were  to  be  found.    Setting  out  at  random  in  the  hope  of 
chancing  upon  his  goal,  Herakles  came  to  the  river  Echedoros 
where,  in   a  contest  of  strength,  he  would  have  slain  Ares' 
son  Kyknos  had  Zeus  not  separated  them  by  a  thunderbolt. 
Happening  to  find  Nereus,  the  Ancient  of  the  Sea,  asleep  on 
the  banks  of  the  Eridanos,  the  great  river  of  the  north,  he 
seized  him,  and,  in  spite  of  his  power  to  change  into  many 
forms,  did  not  release  him  until   he  told  where  the  Golden 
Apples  were  to  be  found.    On  learning  this,  he  turned  south  to 
Libya,  in  which  ruled  Poseidon's  son  Antaios,  who  used  to 
compel  all  strangers  passing  that  way  to  wrestle  with  him. 
They  were  invariably  killed  in  the  struggle,  but  in  Herakles 
he  met  more  than  his  equal,  for  the  hero  lifted  him  aloft  as 
though  he  had  been  nothing  and  dashed  him  to  pieces  on  the 
ground.    From  Libya  Herakles  passed  oii  to  Egypt,  the  king- 
dom of  Bousiris,  another  son  of  Poseidon,  who,  too,  was  unkind 
to  strangers,  making  a  practice  of  sacrificing  them  to  Zeus,  alleg- 
ing that  he  was  thus  obeying  an  oracle.  His  attendants  bound 
Herakles  to  the  altar,  but  with  a  single  eflfort  the  hero  burst 
the  bonds  and  stained  the  shrine  with  the  king's  own  blood. 
From  Egypt  he  went  on  through  Asia  to  the  island  of  Rhodes, 


jTPT^ 


8S 


GREEK  AND  RO.\L\X  MYTHOLOGY 


where  he  is  said  to  have  stolen  a  team  of  oxen  and  to  have 
sacrificed  them,  notwithstanding  the  imprecations  of  their 
owner.  From  that  time  onward  it  was  customary  to  utter  im- 
precations when  sacrificing  to  Heraklcs.  Wandering  across 
Arabia  and  Lydia,  he  chanced  to  come  to  the  place  v.here  the 
unhappy  Prometheus  was  chained.  Moved  with  pity,  he  shot 
the  bird  that  was  tormenting  him,  unbound  his  fetters,  and  with 
the  permission  of  Zeus  gave  him  Ciiciron's  eternal  immunity 
from  death.  At  last  he  reached  the  end  of  his  weary  journey, 
the  land  of  the  Hyperboreians  where  Atlas  stood  bearing  the 
heavens  on  his  shoulders.  With  little  more  ado  Herakles  killed 
the  dragon,  plucked  the  apples,  and  conveyed  them  to  Eurys- 
theus,  but  as  they  were  too  divine  for  mortal  keeping,  they  were 
later  restored  to  the  Hesperides.  Another  version  of  this 
legend,  in  which  Atlas  is  beguiled  to  accomplish  the  theft,  is 
inconsistent  with  the  character  of  the  traditional  Heraklcs. 

Tivdfth  Labour.  —  One  realm  of  nature  was  as  yet  uncon- 
qucrcd  by  Heraklcs  —  the  underworld  —  and  thither  he  was 
sent  on  his  last  mission  to  fetch  Kerberos,  the  hell-hound  with 
three  heads  and  the  tail  of  a  serpent,  and  out  of  whose  body 
grew  a  writhing  tangle  of  snakes.  On  his  way  to  Tainaron  in 
Lakonia,  the  most  spacious  entry  to  the  lower  world,  Herakles 
halted  at  Elcusis,  and,  as  soon  as  Eumolpos  had  purified  him 
of  tiie  blood  of  the  Centaurs,  he  was  initiated  into  the  mys- 
teries. Once  at  tiie  cave  of  Tainaron,  he  descended  and  found 
among  the  sliadcs  those  of  many  whom  he  had  known  in  the 
world  above.  Though  the  place  was  entirely  strange  to  him, 
he  could  not  be  daunted  from  continuing  his  deeds  of  chivalry. 
He  released  Theseus  from  the  bonds  which  Hades  had  thrown 
upon  him,  overpowered  Menoites,  the  herdsman  of  Hades'  kine, 
until  Persephone  had  to  beg  for  him  to  be  spared,  and,  kill- 
ing one  of  the  cattle,  he  shed  its  blood  to  gratify  the  gibbering 
shades.  Kerberos  lie  found  on  guard  at  the  entrance  to  Acheron. 
Protected  by  his  breastplate  and  impenetrable  lion's  skin,  he 
cautiously  approached  the  beast,  and,  suddenly  grasping  him 


PLATE   XXI 11 

I.    Herakles  and  Nereus 
Just  to  the  right  of  the  centre  of  the  composition  Herakles  may 
be  distinguished  by  the  lion-skin  which  he  wears  on  his  head  and  the 
front  of  his  body ;  above  his  shoulders  can  be  seen  the  rim  of  a  quiver 
ard  the  end  of  an  unstrung  bow.     He  stands  with  his  feet  wide  apart 
so  as  to  brace  himself  against  the  struggles  of  Nereus,  whom  he  holds 
tightly  in  his  arms.     The  sea-god  is  shown  with  human  head  and 
shoulders,  while  his  body,  which  he  lashes  wildly  about  in  his  en- 
deavours to  escape,  is  that  of  a  fish.     At  the  left  of  the  picture 
Hermes,  with  the  caduceus  (herald's  wand),  sandals,  chlamy,  (a  sort  of 
cape),  and  petaso^  (travelling  hat),  draws  near  to  the  combat.     The 
two  frightened  women  on  either  side  may  be  Nereids.     From  a  black- 
Hgured  lekythoi  of  the  late  sixth  century  B.C.,  found  at  Gcla  {Monu- 
menti  Antichi,  xvii,  Plate  XXV).     See  p.  87. 

2.    Herakles  and  the  Cretan  Bull 

Herakles,  a  sinewy  and  beardless  young  man,  is  running  beside  the 
bull  and  endeavouring  to  retard  its  speed  by  pulling  back  on  its  right 
horn.  In  his  right  hand  he  is  swinging  his  knotted  club  preparatory 
to  dealing  the  creature  a  heavy  blow.  He  is  lightly  clad  for  his  stren- 
uous task,  wearing  only  a  short,  sleeveless  chiton.  On  his  head  is  a 
peculiar  cap,  with  a  conical  crown  and  a  projecting  peak,  such  as  is 
often  worn  by  Hermes  ard  Perseus.  At  his  left  side  appears  the  hilt 
of  a  sword.  From  a  black-figured  lekythos  with  a  white  ground,  found 
at  (Jela  and  apparently  of  the  earlv  fifth  century  b.c.  (Alonumenti 
Antichi,  xvii,  Plate  XXVIII).     See  p.  84. 

3.  Herakles  and  Apollo 
Herakles  can  be  verv  easily  identified  by  his  club,  lion-skin  (the 
legs  of  which  are  knotted  across  his  chest),  and  the  quiver,  out  of 
which  hve  shafts  are  protruding.  In  his  left  hand  he  grasps  one  of 
the  legs  of  the  Delphic  tripod  which  he  is  trying  to  wrest  from  Apollo, 
a  hthe,  boyish  figure  bearing  a  laden  quiver  on  his  back.  Directly  in 
the  path  of  Herakles  and  with  her  face  toward  him  stands  Athene 
fully  armed,and,  behind  her,  Hermes  with  his  characteristic  attributes! 
The  women  who  witness  the  contest  cannot  be  identified.  From  a 
black-figured  lehthos  of  the  early  fifth  century  b.c,  found  at  Gela 
{Monumenti  AnUcht,  xvii,  Plate  XXIII).     See  pp.  89-90 


^^SSvwW^^^^???^w??^Av?^^^^^^^^S: 


It 


!  1 


l^il 


i^ 


HERAKLES 


89 


by  the  head  and  neck,  forced  him  to  submit  to  being  led 
away.  He  made  his  ascent  by  way  of  the  grotto  at  Troizcn, 
and  when  he  had  shown  the  dog  to  Eurystheus  as  indisputable 
proof  of  his  success,  he  took  him  back  to  Hades. 

The  Later  Adventures  of  Herakles;  In  Euboia.  —  On  his  re- 
lease from  his  servitude  to  Eurystheus,  Herakles  returned  to 
his  home  city  of  Thebes,  where  his  first  act  was  to  get  rid  of 
his  wife  without  proper  cause  by  heartlessly  handing  her  over 
to  lolaos  like  a  mere  chattel.     In  casting  about  him  for  another 
spouse,  he  learned  that  Eurytos,  lord  of  the  Euboian  city  of 
Oichalia,  had  offered  his  daughter  lole  to  the  man  who  should 
excel  himself  and  his  sons  in  archery.    Herakles  took  up  this 
very  general  challenge  and  won,  but  his  fair  prize  was  with- 
held from  him  on  the  ground  that  his  madness  might  return 
and  drive  him  to  repeat  the  murderous  deeds  of  his  earlier 
years.    Not  long  after  this  episode  the  wily  Autolykos  stole 
some  of  Eurytos's  cattle,  but  their  owner  attributed  the  theft 
to  Herakles  as  an  act  of  revenge.   It  chanced  that  Iphitos,  one 
of  Eurytos's  sons,  when  searching  for  the  lost  animals,  fell 
in  with  Herakles,  whom  he  engaged  to  join  him  in  his  errand; 
but  suddenly.  In  the   midst  of  their  peaceful  intercourse  at 
Tiryns,  a  fit  of  madness  came  over  Herakles,  and,  grasping  his 
friend  in  his  powerful  arms,  he  dashed  him  to  destruction  from 
the  summit  of  the  city  walls.   Now  in  the  eyes  of  the  Greeks 
an  act  of  violence  against  a  friend  was  one  of  the  most  repre- 
hensible of  sins,  so  that  a  dreadful  disease  which  came  upon 
Herakles  was  regarded  by  all  as  a  just  retribution  for  his  evil- 
doing.  He  sought  purification  at  the  hands  of  Nereus  (Neleus), 
but  was  ignominiously  turned  away  as  an  offender  for  whom 
there  was  no  pardon.    Later,  at  Amyklai,  he  received  it  from 
the  more  tender-hearted  Deiphobos,  but  this  removed  only  his 
pollution,  and  in  order  to  find  a  cure  for  his  disease  he  went 
to  Delphoi,  where  the  priestess  refused  to  dispense  to  him  the 
healing  wisdom  of  the  oracle.  Overmastered  by  rage,  Herakles 
proceeded  to  sack  the  shrine,  scattering  its  furnishings  about 


m 


90 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


as  would  an  anpr}'  child,  and,  laying  hold  of  the  i.acred  tripod, 
he  was  on  the  point  of  setting  up  his  own  independent  oracle 
when  Apollo  resisted  him  with  force.  In  the  midst  of  their 
struggle  they  were  unexpectedly  separated  by  a  thunderbolt  of 
Zeus,  whereupon  the  oracle  revealed  tfi  Heraklcs  that  he  would 
obtain  relief  from  his  malady  and  would  make  proper  amends 
for  his  crime  only  when  he  had  been  sold  into  slavery  and  had 
served  three  years  in  bondage. 

/;:  Lydia.  —  Hermes  sold  Herakles  to  Omphalc,  the  widow  of 
Tmolos,  a  former  king  of  Lydia,  and  Eurytos,  to  whom  the 
money  realized  from  the  sale  was  offered,  refused  it  with  a 
much  more  genuine  scrupulousness  than  that  which  marks  the 
actions  of  most  characters  of  myth.  This  period  in  Herakles' 
life  was  relieved  by  many  episodes  which  had  a  mirthful  as 
well  as  a  serious  side.  During  a  part  of  his  servitude  Omphale, 
possessed  of  a  saving  sense  of  humour,  made  this  most  mas- 
culine of  all  the  heroes  wear  woman's  garb  and  engage  in  the 
narrow  round  of  domestic  duties,  while  she  herself  went  about 
wearing  the  lion's  skin  and  wielding  the  huge  club.  Yet  Hera- 
klcs was  given  enough  freedom  to  allow  him  to  go  from  land 
to  land  accomplishing  great  exploits.  Near  Ephesos  there  were 
two  mea  called  Kerkopes  who  made  a  practice  of  waylaying 
travellers,  and  one  day,  when  Herakles  waked  from  a  nap  by 
the  roadside,  he  saw  them  standing  over  him  wearing  his 
armour  and  brandishing  his  weapons.  Relying  on  his  strength 
alone,  he  seized  them,  tied  their  feet  together,  and,  hanging 
them  head  downward,  one  on  each  end  of  a  great  stick  of 
timber,  he  proceeded  to  carry  them  off,  but  soon,  won  over 
by  their  irrepressible  pleasantries,  let  them  go.  In  Aulis  lived 
a  certain  Syleus  who  used  to  force  passers-by  to  till  his  vine- 
yards; but  Herakles  was  not  to  be  thus  treated.  Uprooting 
all  the  vines  in  the  vineyard  and  piling  them  into  a  heap, 
he  placed  Syleus  and  his  daughter  on  the  top  and  kindled  it; 
although  in  one  form  of  the  tale  he  gorged  himself  at  Syleus's 
larder  and  then  washed  away  the  entire  plantation  by  divert- 


HERAKLES 


91 


ing  the  waters  of  a  river  across  it.  During  his  slavery  he  was 
of  service  to  Ly  dia  in  crushing  her  enemies,  and  he  also  made 
a  second  expedition  against  the  Amazons  and  with  the  other 
heroes  sailed  on  the  Argo  in  the  quest  of  the  Golden  Fleece. 
One  of  his  many  thoughtful  acts  was  to  bury  the  body  of  the 
bold  but  unfortunate  Ikaros,  which  he  found  cast  by  the  waves 
on  the  seashore,  and  in  gratitude  Daidalos  erected  a  statue  of 
hirr.  at  Olympia. 

yjl    froy.  —  On   attaining  his   liberty,  Herakles  promptly 
carried  out  his  threat  against  Troy  for  her  perfidy.    Accom- 
panied by  many  of  the  nobles  from  all  parts  of  Greece,  he  went 
against  the  city  with  a  fleet  and  an  army,  and  having  effected 
a  landing  and  repulsed  an  attack  of  the  Trojans  he  drove  them 
back  and   besieged   them.     Through  a  breach   made   in  the 
walls  the  Greeks  finally  entered  the  city,  but  at  the  expense 
of  an  altercation  between  Herakles  and  Telamon,  one  of  his 
generals,  who,  Herakles  pettily  urged,  had  inconsiderately  de- 
prived his  leader  of  the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  set  foot 
in  the  conquered  city.    Their  quarrel  was  patched  up,  how- 
ever, and  Telamon  was  given  the  princess  Hesione  as  a  prize 
of  war.   Herakles  slew  the  ungrateful  Laomedon,  but  granted 
life  to  his  son  Podarkes  ("Swift  Foot"),  who  was  afterward 
to  be  called  Priamos.   As  the  victors  were  sailing  away  to  the 
west,  Hera  caught  Zeus  napping  and  sent  violent  storms  upon 
them,  but  the  Olympian  punished  her  for  her  deceit  by  sus- 
pending her  from  heaven.  Touching  at  Kos,  Herakles  engaged 
in  a  battle  with  Eur>'pylos,  king  of  the  island,  slew  him,  and, 
when  himself  wounded,  was  mysteriously  removed  to  safety  by 
his  divine  father  Zeus.    On  reaching  home  he  was  summoned  to 
support  the  cause  of  the  gods  against  the  rebellious  Titans. 

In  the  Peloponnesos.  —  As  Herakles  had  repaid  Laomedon 
for  his  failure  to  keep  a  pledge,  so  was  he  to  have  revenge  on 
Augeias.  Assembling  a  host  of  volunteers,  he  invaded  Elis 
and  met  with  a  powerful  resistance.  Falling  ill,  he  succeeded 
in  making  a  truce  with  the  enemy,  but  they,  on  learning  the 


V 


■  1 


■      1  I     )        T. 


I 


92  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

reason  of  it  and  thinkinp  to  take  him  off  his  guard,  attacked 
him  treacherously.    Herakles,  however,  was  a  master  of  re- 
taUation,  for  when  he  subsequently  caught  them  in  an  ambus- 
cade  he  put  Augeias  and  his  sons  to  death,  captured  the  city 
of  Elis,  and  gave  the  kingdom  to  another.    "Then  the  valiant 
son  of  Zeus  assembled  in  Pisa  all  his  hosts  and  all  the  spoils 
of  war,  and  measured  off  the  boundaries  of  a  precinct  which 
he  made  sacred  to  his  mighty  sire.    In  the  midst  of  the  plain 
did  he  set  aside  a  level  space,  the  Altis,  and  fenced  it  round 
about.  The  land  without  this  space  did  he  ordain  to  be  a  place 
for  feasting  and  for  rest.  Then  to  Alpheios'  stream  he  sacrificed 
an.'  to  the  twelve  sovereign  gods."  '    In  the  space  which  he 
had  consecrated  Herakles  celebrated  the  first  Olympian  games. 
From  Pisa  he  went  against  the  city  of  Pylos,  which  fell 
before  his  arms,  and  here  he  encountered  Periklymenos,  one 
of  the  sons  of  Xcreus,  who  tried  to  escape  his  fate  by  resorting 
to  the  powers  of  transformation  which  Poseidon  had  given 
him.    He  could  change  himself  into  a  lion,  a  snake,  a  bee,  or 
even  so  small  an  insect  as  a  gnat,  but  when  he  had  taken  the 
form  of  this  last  and  was  about  to  escape,  Herakles'  vision  was 
miraculously   cleared   so  that  he   detected   and  caught  him, 
and  slew  him  along  with  all  the  rest  of  his  family  except  his 
brother  Nestor.    In  this  struggle  Hades  fought  on  the  side  of 
the  Pylians  and  was  grievously  wounded  by  Herakles. 

Among  the  allies  of  Nereus  had  been  the  sons  of  Hippokoon 
of  Sparta,  against  whom  Herakles  organized  an  expedition  for 
their  opposition  to  him  and  for  their  wanton  murder  of  one  of 
his  kinsmen,  as  well  as  for  a  grudge  against  the  Spartans  who 
had  withheld  cleansing  from  him  after  the  death  of  Iphitos. 
After  much  persuasion  he  enlisted  on  his  side  King  Kepheus 
of  Tegea,  and  to  save  Tegea  from  capture  during  the  absence 
of  its  defenders  he  left  with  Kepheu^'s  daughter  a  lock  of  the 
Gorgon's  hair  enclosed  in  a  bronze  water-jar.  In  the  war  that 
ensued  Iphikles  and  the  men  of  Tegea  were  killed,  but  in  spite 
of  this  loss  Herakles  was  able  in  the  end  to  overcome  his  foes 


!  H 


i 

i 

i 
1 

■ 

1 

ii' 

rirs 


nm 


PLATE   XXIV 

Amazons  in  Battle 

To  the  left  of  the  centre  of  the  picture  an  Amazon, 
wearing  a  turban-like  helmet  and  mounted  on  a  horse, 
thrusts  with  a  lance  at  a  fallen  Greek  warrior,  behind 
whom  one  of  his  fellows  battles  with  another  Amazon 
attacking  with  an  axe.     Both  of  the  warricr-women 
are    clad    in    tight-fitting    garments    conspicuous    by 
reason  of  their  peculiar  chequered  and  zigzag  patterns. 
From  a  red-figured  volute  hater  of  the  latter  half  of 
the  fifth  century  B.C.,  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art,  New  York  {photograph).     See  pp.  85,  103-04. 


i!:li 


IIF.RAKLES 


<n 


and  gain  ihcir  city,  which  he  restored  to  its  rightful  kinj.-, 
Tyndareos  (or,  pcrliaps,  to  his  sons),  who  had  been  driven  out 
by  the  sons  of  Hippokocin.  It  was  just  after  this  occasion  that 
Hcrakk's  met  Augc  in  Tcgca. 

In  Aiiolia  and  the  Mountains.  —  Hcraklcs  crossed  the  Gulf 
of  Gjrinth  to  Aitolia  and  b.  came  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of 
Dcianeira,  the  daughter  of  Oiiicus  of  Kalydon,  although  in  so 
doing  he  became  a  rival  of  the  powerful  river-god  Achelocis. 
While  wrestling  with  the  divinity,  who  had  taken  the  form  of  a 
bull,  the  hero  broke  and  retained  one  of  his  horns,  which  was 
so  precious  to  its  owner  that  for  its  restoration  he  allowed 
Heraklcs  to  possess  Dcianeira,  and,  besides,  to  take  the  won- 
derful Horn  of  Plenty,  which  would  give  to  him  who  held  it  as 
much  food  or  drink  as  he  should  wish  for.    For  many  days 
Herakles  was  entertained  by  Oincus,  and  even  helped  him  in 
a  war  of  conquest  along  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic,  but,  as  usual, 
his  bulk  and  strength  got  him  into  trouble  in  spite  of  himself. 
One  day  he  chanced  to  kill  a  lad  who  was  related  to  the  king, 
and  though  forgiven  by  the  lad's  father,  he  went  into  volun- 
tary exile,  as  the  custom  of  the  country  required,  and  set  out 
with  Dcianeira  to  take  up  his  abode  with  Keyx  of  Trachis, 
a  city  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains.    Arriving  at  the 
river  Evenos,  over  which  Nessos  the  Centaur  used  to  ferry 
on  his  back  those  who  travelled  afoot,  Herakles  crossed  alone, 
leaving  his  wife  in  the  care  of  Nessos.    As  soon  as  the  husband 
was  a  little  distance  away,  the  Centaur  made  a  vicious  attack 
upon  the  woman,  but  at  her  outcry  Herakles  turned  and  with 
a  well-aimed  shaft  pierced  her  assailant  through  the  heart. 
When  Nessos  had  crawled  out  on  the  river's  bank  to  die,  he 
called  Dcianeira  to  his  side  and  gave  her  a  mixture  of  his 
blood  which,  he  promised,  would  serve  as  a  love-philtre  to 
revive  her  husband's  affection  for  her  should  it  wane  at  any 

time. 

As  Herakles  passed  through  the  country  of  the  Dryopians, 
he  found  himself  in  need  of  food.  He  had  apparently  forgotten 


m  : 


1  1  i  ■  r- 

15 


I: 


''■I 


t       . . 


i? 


94  GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MNTHOLOGY 

the  boundless  capacity  of  his  mag..  ..iv)rn  of  Plenty,  so  that, 
when  none  would  give  him  food,  he  seized  an  ox  and  prepared 
a  meal  from  it.  Tiic  inhospitality  of  the  Dryopians  he  never 
forgot,  and  later  he  punished  them  with  a  devastating  war, 
killing  tlieir  king  as  he  was  impiously  feasting  in  a  shrine  of 
Apollo.  Not  long  afterward  he  went  to  the  aid  of  Aigimios, 
king  of  the  Dorians,  who  was  being  beleaguered  by  the  Lapi- 
thai,  and  drove  the  besiegers  away.  In  this  district  there  was 
a  place  well  adapted  for  an  ambuscade  which  the  votaries  of 
Apollo  had  to  pass  on  their  southward  journey  to  Delphoi, 
and  there  Kyknos,  a  son  of  Ares,  used  to  lie  in  wait  and  attack 
them  as  they  went  by;  but  when  he  met  with  Herakles  he  was 
overpowered  and  slain,  and  thenceforth  the  pilgrims  were  un- 
molested. 

At  last  the  moment  arrived  for  Herakles  to  punish  the  faith- 
lessness of  Eurytos.  Going  against  Oichalia,  he  slew  the  king 
and  his  sons  and  many  of  their  allies,  and  then  sacked  the  city 
and  took  lole  captive.  When  the  news  of  this  seizure  reached 
the  ears  of  Deianeira,  her  heart  was  aflame  with  jealousy,  and 
she  prepared  to  make  use  of  the  gift  of  Nessos.  It  happened 
that  Herakles  sent  a  messenger  to  her  from  Oichalia  to  bring 
back  to  him  a  ceremonial  vestment  for  a  solemn  sacrifice. 
Choosing  a  robe,  she  poured  over  it  some  of  the  magic  liquid, 
but  her  tru?t  In  Nessos  turned  out  to  have  been  too  hasty,  for 
it  was  no  philtre  that  he  had  given  her,  but  a  fiery  liquid  which 
wrapped  the  body  of  Herakles  in  deadly  flames  as  soon  as  he 
donned  the  garment.  Recognizing  that  his  end  was  near,  the 
hero  ascended  Mount  Oita  above  Trachis  and  had  a  great 
pyre  of  wood  built.  Upon  this  he  lay  down  and  ordered  those 
about  him  to  kindle  it,  but  none  had  the  boldness  of  heart 
to  take  their  master's  life.  At  length  a  passer-by,  Poias  (or 
perhaps  Poias's  son,  Philoktetes)  was  induced  to  do  the  deed 
by  the  gift  of  Herakles'  bow  and  arrows.  As  the  flames  rose 
and  consumed  the  hero,  a  cloud  from  which  thunder  proceeded 
was  seen  to  gathe-  over  him  and  to  take  him  into  its  bosom. 


HERAKLES 


95 


and  in  heaven  he  was  given  the  boon  of  immortality  and 
wedded  Hebe,  the  daughter  of  Hera.  With  Hera  herself  he  was 
at  last  reconciled,  while  Deianeira,  when  she  contemplated  the 
result  of  her  awful  deed,  hanged  herself. 

The  Descendants  of  Herakles.— The  sons  of  Herakles,  the 
issue  of  his  many  amours  at  home  and  abroad,  were  in  number 
as  the  sands  of  the  sea.    Of  them  all  Herakles'  favourite  was 
Hyllos,  a  son  of  Deianeira,  and  to  him  the  hero  gave  the  king- 
ship of  the  Dorians,  thus  establishing  the  traditional  bond 
between  his  line  and  the  Dorian  stock.   On  his  father's  death 
Hyllos  married  lole.    The  children  of  Herakles,  now  fearing 
Eurystheus,  fied  to  Trachis,  and  thence,  still  menaced,  to  va- 
rious parts  of  Hellas.    In  the  course  of  their  wanderings  they 
came  to  Athens,  begging  for  protection,  and  the  Athenians,  by 
giving  them  an  army,  did  better  for  them  than  the  fugitives 
had  dared  to  hope,  for  the  united  forces  routed  the  foe,  and 
Hyllos,  pursuing  Eurystheus  as  far  as  the  Skironian  rocks, 
slev-  him.  The  Heraklids  then  overran  the  Peloponnesos,  but 
on      ':  advent  of  a  plague  they  obeyed  the  injunction  of  an 
oracle  and  withdrew  to  Marathon,  where  they  established  a 
colony.    Some  time  later  Hyllos  again  sought  the  advice  of 
an  oracle  and  received  the  response  that  he  and  his  brothers 
would  come  into  their  own  "at  the  end  of  the  third  harvest." 
Interpreting  this  literally,  as  was  natural,  they  made  several 
unsuccessful  attempts  against  the  Peloponnesos,  in  an  early 
one  of  which  Hyllos  lost  his  life  in  a  duel  with  Echemos  of 
T<-  gca.  Finally  the  god  made  known  to  the  remaining  brothers 
that  the  "three  harvests"  referred  to  three  human  genera- 
tions, and  thus,  patiently  awaiting  the  end  of  this  period, 
they  achieved  their  desire  and  divided  the  Peloponnesos  into 
three  parts,  Argos,  Lakedaimon,  and  Messene,  each  part  being 
assigned  to  a  branch  of  the  family. 


M? 


#' 


CHAPTER  VI 
THESEUS 


IN  the  story  of  his  Hfc  as  it  now  stands  Theseus  is  frankly 
an  imitation  of  Hcraklcs,  although  this  does  not  mean  that 
his  figure  owes  its  entire  existence  to  its  model.  Apparently, 
legends  of  a  certain  Theseus  were  very  early  brought  from 
Crete  to  the  coasts  of  the  Argolid  about  Troizen,  and  through 
long  years  of  repetition  they  became  so  familiar  to  the  people 
as  to  be  regarded  as  of  local  origin  and  thus  as  fit  themes  for 
local  poets.  By  means  of  poetry  and  cult  the  name  of  Theseus 
was  spread  throughout  Greece,  but  in  Athens  it  won  especial 
recognition  because  of  friendly  relations  between  Athens  and 
Truizen  and  her  neighbour  cities,  thus  supplying  a  foundation 
for  the  conscious  manufacture  of  new  myths  and  the  com- 
pounding of  old  ones.  When  the  Athenians  reached  the  stage 
of  possessing  a  political  consciousness,  they  found  themselves 
very  different  from  their  older  neighbours  in  that  they  were 
without  an  organized  body  of  myth  extolling  their  descent  and 
detailing  the  glorious  exploits  of  a  great  hero-forefather.  Just 
like  upstart  wealth  in  a  modern  democracy  concocting  its  aris- 
tocratic coat  of  arms,  the  Athenians  resolved  to  set  up  a  na- 
tional hero  and  to  drape  his  figure  in  the  narrative  of  his  al- 
leged exploits.  Theseus  was  ready  at  hand,  partly  Athenian, 
partly  outsider.  As  an  Athenian  he  could  easily  win  local  affec- 
tion; as  an  outsider  he  was  in  a  position  to  square  with  the 
people's  political  aspirations  by  breaking  with  the  aristocracy 
and  introducing  a  new  order  of  things.  The  Athenians,  there- 
fore, took  him  as  he  was,  and,  for  the  sake  of  fixing  him  still 
more  definitely  in  their  locality,  added  a  number  of  stories  of 


PLATK    XXV 

Thesei's  and  Amphitrite 

Theseus,  a  slender  youth  with  long  fair  hair,  stands 
on  the  upturned  hands  of  Triton  before  Amphitrite,  en- 
throned in  her  palace  in  the  depths  of  the  sea.    With 
her  right  hand  the  Queen  of  the  Waters  extends  a 
greeting  to  the  lad,  while  in  her  left  she  holds  against 
her  breast  the  crown  which  she  will  place  on  his  head 
a'  a  sign  that  he  is  the  son  of  Poseidon.     Between  her 
and  Theseus  stands  the  noble  and  unusually  human 
figure  of  Athene.    From  a  red-figured  kylix  by  Euphro- 
nios  ^earlv  fifth  century  B.C.),  in  the  Louvre  (Furt- 
wanglcr-Reichhold,  Griechiiche  l^asenmalerei.  No.  5). 
See  p.  1 01. 


!!i 


m 


li 


THESEUS 


97 


long-established  local  currency  to  the  stock  of  tales  already 
gathered  about  him.  So  keenly  aware  were  they  of  the  calcu- 
lated deliberation  of  the  process  that  to  them  Theseus,  of  all 
the  heroes,  was  in  a  class  by  himself,  a  personage  almost  across 
the  threshold  of  history. 

Birth  and  Childhood.  —  King  Aigeus  of  Athens,  though  twice 
married,  was  not  blessed  with  children,  and  in  his  disappoint- 
ment he  sought  the  counsel  of  the  oracle,  receiving  a  riddling 
answer  which  only  served  to  perplex  him  the  more.  Going  to 
Troizen,  he  made  known  his  trouble  and  the  answer  of  the 
oracle  to  King  Pittheus,  who  quickly  perceived  the  drift  of 
the  response  and  just  as  quickly  devised  a  scheme  by  which  to 
fulfil  it.  Plying  Aigeus  with  wine  until  his  wits  deserted  him, 
Pittheus  left  him  overnight  in  the  company  of  his  daughter 
Aithra,  and  when  morning  dawned  and  Aigeus  came  to  him- 
self, he  bade  Aithra  to  rear  the  son  she  was  destined  to  bear, 
and  not  to  disclose  his  paternity  to  him  until  the  proper  time 
should  come,  which  would  be,  he  said,  when  their  boy  should 
be  able  to  roll  away  a  certain  stone  under  which  Aigeus  had 
hidden  a  set  of  armour  and  weapons,  and  a  pair  of  sandals. 
In  due  time  the  child  was  born,  and  was  immediately,  as  most 
agree,  given  the  name  of  Theseus.  His  grandfather  Pittheus 
diligently  circulated  the  story  that  he  was  the  son  of  Poseidon, 
the  tutelary  deity  of  Troizen,  but  his  mother  held  her  peace. 
Even  as  a  mere  child  Theseus  showed  himself  fearless,  for 
once,  when  Herakles,  his  kinsman,  visited  Troizen,  he  gazed 
without  flinching  at  the  dreadful  lion-skin.  At  sixteen  years 
of  age  he  was  fully  grown,  and  as  was  the  custom  of  young 
men  went  to  Delphoi  and  presented  to  the  god  a  clipped  lock 
of  his  hair  as  a  token  of  surrender  of  his  life  to  the  divine  will. 
Then  his  mother  took  him  to  the  stone,  and  when  he  had  lifted 
it  and  donned  the  armour  revealed  to  him  the  mystery  of  his 
birth  and  sent  him  to  his  father  in  Athens. 

The  young  man,  confident  in  his  strength  and  impelled  by 
the  desire  to  rival  Herakles,  decided  to  take  the  long  and 


$ 


If 


98 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOL(X}Y 


dangerous  land-route  instead  of  the  short  and  easy  voyage 
across  the  gulf.  Nothing  could  dissuade  him  from  his  purpose, 
not  even  the  stories  which  Pittheus  told  him  of  the  cruel  rob- 
bers infesting  the  highway;  indeed,  these  only  whetted  his  ap- 
petite for  adventure.  With  the  intention  merely  of  defending 
himself  should  need  arise  and  of  wantonly  harming  none,  he 
set  out  from  Troizen  on  a  journey  that  was  fated  to  involve 
him  in  six  great  labours. 

The  Labours  of  Theseus;  First  Labour.  —  As  Theseus  passed 
through  Epidauros  going  northward,  he  was  confronted  by  the 
robber  Periphetes,  a  son  of  .Hephaistos  and  Antikleia,  who,  in- 
heriting his  father's  lameness,  used  an  enormous  club  as  an  aid 
in  walking.  Standing  across  Theseus's  path,  he  forbade  him 
to  proceed,  but  the  hero,  too  quick  and  strong  for  him,  pounced 
on  him,  killed  him,  and  took  his  club  both  as  a  memento  of  the 
exploit  and  as  an  invincible  weapon  for  the  future. 

Second  Labour.  —  At  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  lived  Sinis,  a 
giant  son  of  Poseidon,  who  made  a  practice  of  seizing  travellers 
on  the  Isthmian  highway  and  of  binding  them  to  one  or  more 
resilient  saplings  that  had  been  bent  to  the  ground,  the  release 
of  the  trees  allowing  them  to  spring  back  to  an  upright  posi- 
tion and  in  so  doing  to  tear  asunder  the  bodies  of  the  victims. 
This  heartless  wretch  Theseus  hoisted  with  his  own  petard, 
even  forcing  him  to  lend  a  hand  in  bending  down  the  tree  to 
which  he  was  to  be  tied.    On  the  death  of  Sinis  his  daughter 
fled  to  a  bed  of  tall  asparagus  and  implored  the  plants  to 
hide  her,  but  when  reassured  by  Theseus  that  no  harm  would 
befall  her,  she  came  out  of  her  hiding-place  and  consorted  with 
him,  aften,vard  bearing  a  son  Mclanippos  whose  descendants 
worshipped  the  asparagus  plant.    This  story  may  be  a  mythical 
version  of  a  ritual  of  a  Pose'  ion-cult  in  the  Isthmian  groves. 
Third  Labour.  — To  the  right  of  the  road,  just  as  one  left 
the  Isthmus,  was  the  town  of  Krommyon.    About  this  place 
roamed  an  unusually  ferocious  wild  sow  to  which  the  terrified 
nelghb'r^-irhood  had  given  the  name  of  Phaia.  Though  person- 


THESEUS 


99 


ally  unprovoked  by  the  beast,  Theseus  turned  aside  from  his 
path,  and,  to  show  his  valour  and  fearlessness,  attacked  and 
slew  her  single-handed.  Some  of  the  ancient  writers,  rational- 
izing this  myth,  suggested  that  Phaia  was  really  a  licentious 
murderess  who  was  called  a  sow  from  her  evil  habits.  This 
and  the  preceding  theme  seem  to  be  of  Isthmian  origin. 

Fourth  Labour.  —  A  little  distance  to  the  west  of  the  city  of 
Mcgara  were  some  lofty  limestone  cliffs  on  the  edge  of  which 
ran  the  road  from  the  Isthmus.  Here  was  the  station  of  the 
robber  Skiron,  who  would  compel  passers-by  to  stop  and  wash 
his  feet,  and,  as  they  stooped  before  him,  would  kick  them  over 
the  precipice  at  the  foot  of  which  a  huge  turtle  devoured  their 
mangled  bodies.  Turning  the  tables,  Theseus  threw  him  over. 
Some  of  the  Megarians,  in  an  endeavour  to  avoid  speaking  evil 
of  a  fellow-countryman,  claimed  that,  in  reality,  Skiron  was 
a  suppressor  of  brigandage  on  this  important  highway.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  it  now  seems  probaole  that  the  story  arose 
from  a  misunderstanding  of  a  primitive  ritual  in  which  a  human 
victim  was  thrown  over  the  cliffs  to  remove  pollution  from  the 
land  and  thus  to  ensure  good  crops. 

Fifth  Labour.  —  At  Eleusis  Theseus  engaged  Kerkyon  of 
Arkadia  in  a  wrestling  bout  and  killed  him  with  a  violent 
throw. 

Sixth  Labour.  —  The  road  between  Eleusis  and  Athens  was 
beset  by  a  cruel  brigand  known  as  Damastes  ("Subduer"), 
or  Prokroustes  ("Stretcher"),  who  took  travellers  captive  and 
fitted  them  perforce  to  his  bed.  If  they  were  too  tall,  he  would 
mercilessly  lop  off  their  extremities,  and,  if  too  short,  he  would 
stretch  them  to  his  own  length,  invariably  killing  them  by  either 
process;  but  at  Theseus's  hands  he  met  death  by  the  treatment 
which  he  gave  to  others.  Probably  in  Damastes  we  are  to  see 
the  god  of  death,  and  in  the  bed  the  democratic  seven  feet  of 
sod  to  which  we  must  all  come  sooner  or  later. 

Theseus  in  Athens.  —  Theseus  had  now  reached  the  borders 
of  Athens,  but  he  did  not  cross  them  until  he  had  been  purified 


1 

1 

i 

i 

•  •  1 

i  1 

III 

j 

1 

■   t    : 

i  1 

1  i 

;            ' 

t 
i 

'■    i     * 

-itil 


II' 


lOO         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

of  the  blood  of  Sinis,  who  was  a  kinsman  of  his  own  through 
their  joint  relationship  with  Poseidon.  As  he  went  across 
the  city  clad  in  a  long  flowing  robe,  he  passed  a  temple  on  the 
roof  of  which  the  builders  were  still  at  work.  These,  noticing 
his  peculiar  garb,  began  to  make  sport  of  him  and  asked  h.m 
why  a  proper  young  lady  like  himself  was  out  walkmg  unes- 
corted,  whereupon,  without  a  word,  Theseus  unyoked  a  team 
of  oxen  standing  by  and  tossed  them  higher  than  the  peak  of 

the  building.  .         .      .  j 

The  household  of  Aigeus  he  found  to  be  m  a  desperate 
state,  for  the  king  had  become  old  and  the  people  had  grown 
restle'ss  under  his  feeble  sceptre,  but  as  there  was  no  heir  he 
still  clung  tenaciously  to  the  throne.  Medeia,  who  was  now 
his  wife,  with  the  vision  of  a  witch  recognized  Theseus  as  soon 
as  he  appeared,  but  she  kept  her  discovery  to  herself  and 
plotted  to  take  his  life  by  poisoning  him  at  a  feast.  Theseus, 
however,  detected  her  design  and  at  a  timely  moment  revealed 
himself  to  his  father  by  drawing  his  sword  as  if  to  cut  the  meat 
on  the  table.  Aigeus  and  the  populace  received  him  with 
great  joy  and  acknowledged  him  as  the  prince  of  the  realm. 

But  the  cousins  of  Theseus,  the  sons  of  Pallas,  were  very 
angry,  for  his  arrival  had  spoiled  their  chances  of  succeeding 
jointly  to  the  throne.  Declaring  that  Aigeus  was  only  an 
adopted  brother  of  Pallas,  and  that  Theseus  was  an  unknown 
outlander,  they  proclaimed  war  against  him  and  plotted  to 
entrap  him,  but  a  traitor  revealed  their  plans,  and  Theseus 
retained  the  supremacy. 

Theseus  in  Crete.  —  It  was  not  long  before  Theseus  had  the 
opportunity  of  doing  his  greatest  deed  for  Athens,  for  the  time 
arrived  when  the  Athenians  must  make  their  third  payment  of 
tribute  of  Attic  youths  to  Minos,  and  the  populace  began  to 
find  fault  with  Aigeus  on  the  ground  that  he  had  taken  no 
steps  to  rid  them  of  this  periodic  calamity.  To  still  their  chid- 
ing Theseus  offered  himself  as  one  of  the  victims  of  the  Mino- 
taur, while  all  the  others  were  chosen  by  lot,  although  one 


PLATl.   XXVI 

I.AITIH.S    AND    CeNTAI'RS 

In  this  iccnc  three  separate  combats  arc  beiiij:  en- 
acted.     In  that  on  the  right,  a  Centaur  is  wielding  a 
tall  tripod  against  a  Lapith  and  parrying  the  blow  of  ;. 
dagger.     The  Centaur  of  the  central  group  is  with  one 
hand  forcibly  drawing  his  antagonist  toward  himself 
and  with  the  other  hand  clenched  is  beating  him  in 
the  face.      At  the  left  a  Lapith  and  a  Centaur  are 
battling,  the  one  with   a  double-axe,  and   the  other 
with  the  neck  of  a  broken  jar.      From  a  red-figured 
*>//*  by  Aristophanes  (late  tifth  century  B.C.),  in  the 
.Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston  (Furtwangler-Reich- 
hold,    Gritihische   rastnmal,ni.  No.    129).     See  pp. 
104-05. 


i; 


li 


II 


If 


THESEUS 


lOI 


accr 
nan 
seer 


f  of  the  legend  states  that  Minos  selected  them  all, 
Theseus  first.  Before  going  on  board  the  ship  Theseus 
assured  his  father  that  he  would  succeed  in  killing  the 
MinoLUur  and  thus  free  his  people  from  their  bondage;  and  since 
the  tribute-boat  ordinarily  carried  a  black  sail  to  betoken  the 
hopelessness  of  its  passengers,  Aigeus  gave  the  helmsman  a 
white  one  to  be  hoisted  far  out  at  sea  on  the  voyage  home  if 
Theseus  were  returning  safe  and  sound. 

It  was  probably  after  the  arrival  of  the  Attic  youths  in  Crete 
that  Minos  expressed  his  doubts  that  Poseidon  was  the  father 
of  Theseus,  and  to  make  a  test  of  his  parentage  he  threw  a 
ring  into  the  sea.  Theseus  plunged  in  after  it  and  was  borne 
by  a  dolphin  or  a  Triton  to  the  thrones  of  Poseidon  and  Am- 
phitrite.  There  Poseidon  granted  him  the  fulfilment  of  three 
wishes  that  he  might  make  in  the  future,  while  Amphitrite 
gave  him  a  garland,  and  then,  bearing  the  latter  as  an  emblem 
of  his  divine  birth,  he  emerged  from  the  water  bringing  the 
ring  to  Minos. 

Before  the  captives  were  enclosed  in  the  labyrinth,  Ariadne, 
a  daughter  of  Minos,  fell  in  love  with  TheSeus  and  promised  to 
help  him  find  his  way  out  of  the  prison,  if  he  would  bind  him- 
self to  take  her  to  Athens  and  make  her  his  wife.  Theseus 
promptly  gave  this  easy  pledge,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Dal- 
dalos  Ariadne  then  presented  him  with  a  skein  of  linen  thread 
which  he  was  to  unwind  as  he  advanced  to  the  innermost  re- 
cess of  the  labyrinth.  Once  there  he  easily  slew  the  Minotaur 
with  his  fists,  and  by  following  the  thread  made  his  way  back 
to  the  light.  Embarking  on  his  ship  with  Ariadne,  he  fled  from 
Crete  and  touched  at  the  island  of  Naxos,  but  as  to  just  what 
happened  here  the  sources  are  not  agreed.  One  has  it  that 
Theseus,  tiring  of  his  bride,  deserted  her,  and  that  she  in 
despair  hanged  herself;  another,  that  Dionysos,  enamoured 
of  her,  conveyed  her  to  Lemnos  and  forced  her  to  wed  him; 
and  still  another,  that,  driven  by  a  storm  on  the  shores  of 
Cyprus,  Ariadne  died  from  exposure  and  Theseus  instituted 


ml 


M 


l. 


102         GRia:K  AND   ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY 

regular  sacrifices  at  her  tomb.  At  all  events,  Theseus  reached 
home  without  her,  but  as  the  ship  drew  near  to  Athens,  the 
helmsman  in  his  great  joy  forgot  to  hoist  the  white  sail,  and 
Aigeus,  seeing  the  black  one,  threw  himself  over  the  clifTs  on 
which  he  stood  and  was  dashed  to  pieces.  On  landing  Theseus 
buried  his  father's  remains  and  paid  his  vows  to  Apollo. 


FlC.    4.       Tllt^ELN    AND    THE    MlNdTAlR 

1  ho-cis.  an  alhlotic  v^.uni:  num.  uith  I, is  left  hand  seizes  the  Mim.taur  by  a  horn, 
while  «it!i'  l.is  riL-hl  !i.,na  he  is  ah.ut  tn  thrust  at  the  monster  with  a  short  sword. 
C.nir  ire  this  manner  .^f  l^illinc  with  that  mentioned  in  tlie  text.  The  two  spectators 
cf  the  -.truCL'le  may  be  Minos  aiul  Ariadne.  Krom  a  red-fiKurcd  kratfr  oi  the  faith 
ccntur;.   K.i  .  f  unj'at  Gcl.i  (M,>t,im,-nti  .Intichi,  .wii,  Plate  X.\-\). 

Theseus  and  the  Bull  of  Marathon.— The  story-  of  Theseus 
and  the  bull  of  Marathon  is  really  a  continuation  of  that  of 
his  Cretan  adveiUuns.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  beast 
had  killed  .Xiidiv^t'o  >>,  the  son  of  Minos,  and  after  this  it  con- 
tinued, unchecked,  its  ravages  among  both  men  and  crops. 
A-iL-ning  himself  the  task  cf  subduing  it,  Theseus  went  to 
Marathon,  grappled  with  the  bull,  and  by  sheer  strength  of 
muscle  forced  it  t<>  submit  to  his  will,  after  which  he  drove  it 
acinss  country  and  through  the  streets  of  Athens,  at  last  sacri- 
ficing it  on  the  altar  of  Apollo. 


THESEUS 


103 


Theseus  as  King  and  Statesman.  —  When,  on  the  death  of 
his  father,  Theseus  became  the  head  of  the  state,  he  soon  per- 
ceived tliat  the  lack  of  proper  political  association  among  the 
scattered  townships  of  yVttikc  was  a  great  source  of  weak- 
ness for  his  country,  and  in  order  to  secure  co-operation  among 
them  in  the  works  of  peace  and  war  alike  he  persuaded  the 
various  communities  to  unite  in  the  formation  of  a  common- 
wealth. He  then  appointed  central  places  for  meeting  and 
conference,  instituted  a  national  festival,  drew  up  laws,  and 
issued  a  state  currency;  he  divided  the  populace  into  three 
classcr,,  nobles,  farmers,  and  artisans,  giving  each  class  its 
special  political  function;  he  invited  outsiders  to  settle  in 
Athens  and  enjoy  the  rights  of  citizenship;  he  annexed  Megara, 
and  in  emulation  of  Herakles  founded  games  on  the  Isthmus 
in  honour  of  Poseidon.  In  order  to  appear  democratic  he  pro- 
posed to  the  people  that  he  be  known,  not  as  king,  but  as  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  army  and  defender  of  the  laws,  yet, 
despite  all  this,  he  was  always  regarded  as  king. 

The  Later  Adventures  of  Theseus;  the  Amawns.  —  Like 
Herakles,  Theseus  had  what  we  may  call  his  supernumerary 
adventures,  the  first  of  which  is  generally  accounted  to  have 
been  his  expedition  against  the  Amazons.  Whether  this  was 
purely  his  own  venture,  or  whether  he  was  merely  the  comrade 
of  Herakles,  is  by  no  means  clearly  determined,  but  in  either 
instance,  he  won  Antiope  as  the  prize  of  his  efforts  and  took 
her  back  to  Athens.  For  her  seizure  the  Amazons  declared 
war  against  Athens  and  besieged  the  Acropolis,  encamping 
on  an  eminence  at  its  foot,  and  since  they  were  the  daugh- 
ters of  Ares,  this  height  was  from  that  time  known  as  Are- 
opagos  (for  another  legendary  explanation  of  the  name,  see 
above,  p.  70).  The  siege  lasted  four  months  and  was  broken 
only  through  the  intercession  of  Theseus's  Amazon  wife, 
although  some  authorities,  on  the  contrary,  assert  that  she 
fought  against  her  own  race  and  died  at  her  husband's  side, 
pierced  by  a  javelin.   Many  of  the  slain  Amazons  were  buried 


ir 


ill 


:li; 


h 


fi 


I04         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

in  the  vicinity  of  Athens,  and  their  graves  were  objects  of 
interest  to  travellers  for  many  centuries.  This  mythical  con- 
flict foreshadowed  the  later  wars  of  history  in  which  Athens 
was  to  be  the  leader  of  the  Greeks  against  invading  barba- 
rians. 

Theseus  and  Ilippolytos.  —  If  we  arc  to  discredit  the  story 
of  Antiope's  noble  death,  we  must  accept  another  in  which 
she  was  set  aside  b>  the  fickle  Theseus  in  favour  of  Phaidra, 
a  sister  of  the  deserted  .\riadne.  According  to  this  version, 
her  rejection  gave  her  a  pretext  for  leading  the  Amazons  to 
prosecute  a  war  against  Athens,  but  by  Theseus  she  left  a  son 
Hippolytos  who  turned  out  to  be  "a  somewhat  intractable 
compound  of  a  Jehu  and  a  Joseph."  As  a  youth  he  was  de- 
voted to  the  hunt  and  was  a  diligent  worshipper  of  the  chaste 
Artemis,  while  Aphrodite  and  all  her  works  he  hated  with  a 
holy  hatred.  For  this  Aphrodite  punished  him,  causing  his 
step-mother  Phaidra  to  burn  with  love  for  him  and  to  make 
evil  advances,  but  when  he  haughtily  rejected  these,  she 
slandered  him  before  his  father,  who  banished  him  and  be- 
sought Poseidon  to  visit  destruction  upon  him  as  the  fulfil- 
ment of  one  of  tlie  three  wishes  he  was  to  grant.  Poseidon 
heard  the  prayer  and  raised  up  from  the  sea  an  enormous  bull 
which  so  frightened  the  horses  of  Hippolytos  that  they  ran 
away  and  killed  him.  When  it  was  too  late,  the  truth  of  the 
matter  was  revealed  to  the  remorseful  Theseus,  while  the  guilty 
Phaidra  took  her  own  life  by  hanging. 

Friendship  icith  Peirithoos.  —  Peinthoos  had  heard  of  the 
great  strength  of  Theseus,  and,  in  order  to  test  it,  drove  some 
of  Theseus's  cattle  from  the  plain  of  Marathon.  Theseus  pur- 
sued the  raider,  but,  when  they  came  face  to  face,  they  found 
themselves  unexpectedly  attracted  to  one  another.  Peirithoos 
promptly  offered  to  pay  whatever  damages  Theseus  might 
claim,  but  all  that  the  latter  would  accept  was  a  pledge  of 
friendship,  and  thencefortli  they  were  inseparable.  Theseus 
was  present  at  the  wedding  of  Peiritho«)S  to  Deidameia  in  the 


THESEUS 


I  OS 


country  of  the  Laplthai,  when  some  Thessalian  Centaurs,  who 
were  also  guests,  became  heated  with  wine  and  attacked  the 
Lapith  women;  but,  led  by  Theseus,  the  men  fought  them  off, 
slew  some,  and  drove  others  from  the  land. 

When  Theseus  was  about  fifty  years  old,  the  two  friends 
kidnapped  Helen  of  Sparta  and  held  her  for  a  while  in  Attic 
territory,  this  constituting  an  adventure  with  whose  details 
wc  have  already  become  acquainted.  During  her  detention 
Theseus  accompanied  Peirithoos  to  the  home  of  Hades  to 
seize  Persephone  and  make  her  the  bride  of  Peirithoos,  but  the 
task  was  not  like  that  of  capturing  the  partly  mortal  Helen, 
for  Hades  had  the  two  abductors  overpowered  and  bound  with 
serpents  to  the  Seat  of  Lethe  ("Forgetfulness").  Herakles 
later  set  Theseus  free,  but  even  his  great  strength  was  insuf- 
iicicnt  to  enable  him  to  loose  Peirithoos. 

Death  of  Theseus.  —  On  returning  to  Athens  Theseus  learned 
that  Helen's  brothers  had  stormed  the  fortress  where  she  had 
been  held  captive  and  had  taken  her  back  to  Sparta,  and,  along 
with  her,  his  own  mother  Aiihra,  while,  to  increase  his  troubles, 
another  political  party  was  in  the  ascendancy  and  was  in- 
stigating the  people  against  him.  Finding  the  opposition  too 
great,  he  solemnly  cursed  the  Athenians  and  with  his  family 
withdrew  to  the  rocky  island  of  Skyros,  where,  it  is  said,  at 
the  command  of  the  king  of  the  island  he  was  pushed  over 
the  sea-cliffs  and  killed.  After  the  fall  of  Troy  his  children 
returned  to  Athens  and  reigned.  Nevertheless,  the  spirit  of 
Theseus  was  not  dead,  for  at  Marathon  he  fought  on  the 
side  of  the  Athenians  and  turned  the  tide  of  battle  in  their 
favour.  At  the  close  of  the  Persian  wars  his  bones  were  brought 
to  Athens  from  Skyros  in  obedience  to  an  oracle,  and  buried 
with  great  pomp  in  a  tomb  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 


in 

ii 


I 


i        tin 

m 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  ARGO 

THE  voyage  of  the  Argo  is  the  great  culminating  episode 
in  the  vicissitudes  of  certain  branches  of  the  family  of 
Aiol  ■-,  and  it  will,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  review  the  lives 
of  the  most  important  personages  of  this  family. 

The  Descendants  of  Aiolos;  Salmoneus,  Pelias.  —  Salmoncus, 
a  son  of  Aiolos  who  had  settled  in  Elis,  drew  upon  himself  the 
divine  anger  for  having  attempted  to  usurp  some  of  the  pre- 
rogatives of  Zeus,  for  he  made  a  practice  of  imitating  the 
tliunu  r  and  the  lightning  of  a  rain-storm  and  was  killed  by  .1 
real  b'  It  from  the  luind  of  Zeus.  From  this  description  of  him 
we  art.  to  infer  that  he  was  of  the  class  of  rain-making  magi- 
cians still  to  be  found  in  some  primitive  communities.  His 
daughter  Tym  was  forced  to  yield  to  the  embraces  of  Posei- 
don and  bore  twin  son--,  Xerous  (Xelcus)  and  Pelias,  who  were 
cxpfjsed  in  infancy,  but  were  found  and  reared  in  another 
family  than  their  own.  Nereus  and  his  children  were  slain  by 
F  "-akles  at  Pyios.  but  Pelias  took  up  his  abode  somewhere 
■■  Thessaly,  married,  and  had,  among  other  children,  a  son 
-tos  and  a  daughter  .Mkestis  who  was  destined  to  become 
if  the  most  fuinf)us  of  women.  For  an  impious  act  of  his 
-oulh  Hera  visited  on  Pelias  a  curse  which  was  to  follow  him 
'trough  life.  Tyro,  after  the  abandonment  of  her  children, 
was  legally  wedded  to  Kretheus,  her  father's  brother,  and  be- 
came the  mother  of  tiiree  more  children,  Amythaon,  Aison, 
and  Pheres,  who  lived  together  in  the  Thessalian  city  of 
lolkos  which  Kretheus  had  founded,  until  Pheres,  with  laud- 
able enterprise,  built  the  new  city  of  Pherai,  on  an  inland  site 


PLATE   XXVII 

The  Argonauts 

The  interpretation  of  this  scene  is  by  no  means 
certain.  It  has  been  explained  as  depicting  a  band  of 
Athenian  warriors  about  to  give  battle  to  the  Persians 
in  the  presence  of  the  gods  and  heroes  of  old. 
Cicncrallv,  however,  it  is  thought  to  represent  a  group 
of  the  Argonauts,  without  reference  to  any  particular 
episode.  If  this  interpretation  is  correct,  one  can 
easily  perceive  the  appropriate  appearance  of  Athene, 
the  divine  patroness  of  the  Argo,  of  Herakles,  with 
club  and  lion-skin,  and  of  one  of  the  Dioskouroi,  with 
his  horse.  Any  attempt  to  identify  the  other  figures 
would  be  purely  fanciful.  From  a  red-figured  iraUr  of 
the  end  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  in  the  Louvre  (Furt- 
wangler-Reichhold,  Gr/Vf/iw*^  l''aienmalerti,'So.  io8). 


1 


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THE  \'OYAGE  OF  THE  ARGO 


107 


not  many  leagues  away,  and  became  its  king.    In  his  old  age 
Pheres  gave  up  the  throne  to  his  son  Admetos. 

Admetos  and  Alkestii. — The  story  of  the  courtship  and 
wedded  life  of  Admetos  is  the  theme  of  the  Aikestis  of  Euripi- 
des. Tlie  beginning  of  the  story  goes  back  to  Apollo's  slay- 
ing of  tlie  Kykiopes  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  his  son  Asklcp- 
ios,  and  for  this  murder  he  was  punished  by  Zeus,  being  sent 
to  serve  as  a  slave  to  a  mortal  man.  That  man  chanced  to  be 
Admrtos,  who  treated  the  god  with  the  kindest  hospitality 
and  was  rewarded  by  a  great  increase  in  his  flocks  and  herds. 
Seeking  in  marriage  Aikestis,  the  daughter  of  his  kinsman 
Pelias,  he  went  to  lolkos  and  paid  her  court,  but  her  father 
had  promised  that  he  would  give  her  only  to  the  man  who 
should  succeed  in  yoking  to  a  car  a  lion  and  a  wild  bo.tr. 
When  it  seemed  to  Admetos  as  if  this  impossible  condition 
would  compel  him  to  forego  his  love,  Apollo  yoked  the  animals, 
and  helped  him  win  his  bride.  At  the  wedding-sacrifice,  how- 
ever, Admetos  forgot  to  give  victims  to  Artemis,  who,  to 
requite  him,  filled  his  bridal  chamber  with  serpents,  but 
Apollo  bade  him  offer  suitable  propitiation  and  obtained  for 
him  from  the  Fates  the  boon  that,  when  about  to  pass  away, 
he  should  be  spared  the  actual  terrors  of  dissolution  through 
the  death  of  a  voluntary  substitute.  At  last  Admetos's  fated 
day  came,  and  of  all  his  friends  and  kin  none  but  his  dear 
wife  Aikestis  was  willing  to  die  for  him.  He  became  well  again 
while  she  sickened  and  died  and  was  buried;  but  by  chance 
Herakles  passed  through  Pherai  bound  for  Thrace,  and  learn- 
ing the  cause  of  the  mourning  in  the  house  he  entered  the  tomb, 
defeated  Death,  and  amid  general  rejoicing  brought  Aikestis 
back  to  her  husband. 

Athamas,  Phrixos,  and  Ilelle.  —  Athamas,  another  son  of 
Aiolos,  had  two  children,  a  son  Phrixos  and  a  daughter  Helle, 
by  an  eariier  marriage  than  that  with  Ino,  who  was  very  jealous 
of  them  and  plotted  to  destroy  them.  Secretly  advising  the 
women  of  the  country  to  roast  the  corn  before  sowing,  she 


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MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANS!  a"d   ISO  TEST   CHART  No     2 


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^     APPLIED  l\4^GE     Inc 


io8         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

brought  about  a  failure  of  the  crops,  and  when  Athamas  sent 
messengers  to  the  oracle  to  inquire  how  to  remove  this  condi- 
tion, Ino  suborned  them,  and  they  brought  back  a  false  re- 
port, announcing  that  the  land  would  again  bear  fruit  if 
^hrixos  were  sacrificed  to  Zeus.  As  the  lad  stood  by  the  altar 
to  be  slain,  his  mother  Xcphcle  suddenly  led  out  a  ram  with 
a  golden  fleece,  the  offspring  of  Poseidon  and  Theophane,  and 
r  lacing  Phrixos  and  Hclle  on  the  animal  she  drove  it  away. 
Swiftly  it  went  eastward  overland  to  the  straits  between  Europe 
and  Asia,  but  as  it  was  swimming  these  Helle  fell  off  its  back 
into  the  water  and  was  drowned,  whence,  ever  afterward,  the 
Greeks  knew  the  straits  as  the  Hellespont  ("Hclle's  Sea"). 
Phrixos,  on  the  other  hand,  was  borne  by  the  ram  to  the  farther 
end  of  the  Euxine,  where  was  the  land  of  Kolchis,  over  which 
King  Aietes  ruled.  There,  as  one  story  says,  he  grew  to  man- 
hood and  afterward  returned  to  his  old  home  in  the  west; 
although,  according  to  a  variant  legend,  he  was  killed  by  Aietes, 
and  the  ram  was  sacrificed  to  Zeus,  while  its  golden  fleece  was 
hung  on  a  mighty  oak  in  the  grove  of  Ares  and  guarded  by  a 
dragon. 

The  Return  of  lason.  —  The  narrative  now  returns  to  lolkos. 
When  Krctheus  died,  his  son  Aison  was  dispossessed  of  his  king- 
dom by  his  half-brother  Pelias,  but  he  still  lived  on  in  lolkos 
and  offered  no  resistance  to  the  usurper.  To  prepare,  however, 
for  a  day  of  vengeance  he  craftily  announced  that  his  son 
lason  was  dead,  whereas,  in  reality,  he  had  sent  him  away  to 
Chciron  to  be  educated,  while  to  Pelias  he  made  the  prophecy 
that  some  day  he,  Pelias,  would  die  at  the  hands  of  an  Aiolid 
or  by  an  incurable  poi'-on.  Years  after  this  lason  returned  to 
lolkos,  and  with  many  otiicrs  was  invited  by  Pelias  to  a  feast  of 
Poseidon,  but  in  crossing  a  swollen  stream  on  the  way  he 
chanced  to  lose  his  left  sandal  in  the  mire.  As  he  approached 
with  only  his  right  foot  shod,  Pelias  observed  him,  and  when 
he  learned  who  he  was  called  to  mind  with  a  great  shock  that 
this  was  the  mark  of  the  man  by  whom  he  was  doomed  to  die. 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  ARGO 


109 


After  a  conference  of  several  days  with  his  father  and  other 
kinsfolk,  lason,  appearing  before  Pelias,  boldly  asked  him  to 
surrender  the  throne  and  sceptre,  and  the  usurper  weakly 
assented,  but  begged  him  to  have  pity  on  his  old  age.  Would 
he  not  first  of  all,  he  asked,  recover  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  by 
thus  appeasing  the  soul  of  Phrixos  bring  peace  to  the  line  of 
Aiolos?  On  this  condition  Pelias  was  willing  to  step  down  from 
the  throne  without  a  struggle.  lason  accepted  the  task,  but, 
suspecting  a  ruse  against  his  life,  engaged  Akastos,  Pelias's 
son,  to  share  the  dangers  of  the  adventure  with  him. 

The  Voyage  of  the  Argo.  —  Summoning  Argos,  a  son  of 
Phrixos,  lason  bade  him  build  a  fifty-oared  ship,  and  with 
the  help  of  Athene  Argos  farhioned  "the  most  excellent  of  all 
ships  that  have  made  trial  of  the  sea  wich  oars,"'  and  named 
it  the  Argo.  Into  its  prow  Athene  fitted  a  piece  of  the  talking 
oak  of  Zeus  at  Dodona,  and  when  it  was  completed  lason 
sent  heralds  throughout  Greece  announcing  his  expedition. 
From  all  parts  men  hastened  to  enroll  themselves  as  his  com- 
panions. Their  number  was  too  great  for  us  to  catalogue  them 
here,  but  we  may  say  that  all  of  them  were  real  "heroes,  the 
crown  of  men,  like  gods  in  fight,"  many  of  whom  we  have  met 
in  the  myths  already  recorded.  Bidding  farewell  to  the  people 
of  lolkos,  the  company  withdrew  to  the  seashore,  and  beside 
the  ship  held  a  council  in  which  with  one  accord  they  elected 
lason  their  leader.  After  a  sacrifice  to  Apollo  in  which  they 
found  the  omens  favourable,  they  launched  the  Argo  and  sailed 
away  through  the  Gulf  of  Pagasai  to  the  open  Aegean,  "and 
their  arms  shone  in  the  sun  like  flames  as  the  ship  sped  on."  * 
Skirting  the  coast,  they  held  first  a  northward  and  later  an 
eastward  course,  until  they  came  to  Lemnos,  where  lived  a 
race  of  women,  ruled  by  Hypsipyle,  who  out  of  jealousy 
had  killed  off'  all  their  husbands,  but  who,  by  this  time  weary 
of  single  existence,  joyfully  welcomed  the  Argo's  crew  and 
tempted  them  to  delay  among  them  for  a  season.  With  the 
weakness  of  true  sailors  the  men  yielded  to  their  beguilements 


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no         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  XHTHOLOGY 

and  lingered  many  days;  and  perhaps  they  would  utterly  have 
forgotten  their  goal  had  not  Hcrakles  vigorously  brought  them 
to  their  senses.    Embarking  once  more,  they  sailed  north  to 
Samothrace,  where  they  accepted  initiation  into  the  sacred 
mysteries  in  order  to  ensure  themselves  a  safe  return,  and 
thence  they  passed  through  the  Hellespont,  "dark-gleaming 
with  eddies',"  to  the  island  of  Kyzikos,  the  land  of  the  Doliones. 
Here  they  obtained  stores  and  information,  and  had  to  ward 
oflF  an  attack  of  the  six-armed  Earth-born  men,  many  of  w  -om 
fell  before  the  bow  of  Herakles.  After  proceeding  only  a  short 
distance  eastward,   they  were  buffeted   by  head  winds    and 
driven  back  to  another  part  of  the  island.  The  same  Doliones 
who  had  given  them  food  saw  them  land  but  were  unabie 
to  recognize  them  owing  to  the  distance,  and  taking  them  for 
pirates  they  set  upon  them,  only  to  bring  destruction  upon 
themselves.   For  twelve  days  and  twelve  nights  the  Argonauts 
were  detained  here  by  reason  of  storms,  which  abated,  how- 
ever, after  a  sacrifice  to  Hera.    When  they  had  rowed  to  a  point 
on  the  coast  of  Mysia,  Herakles  and  Hylas,  his  favourite  youth, 
went  ashore  and  made  their  way  into  the  forest,  the  one  to  get 
wood  and  the  other  to  draw  water;  but  as  Hylas  stooped  over 
a  spring,  the  water-nymphs,  won  by  his  beauty,  reached  up  and 
drew  him  under.    One  who  heard  him  cry  out  ran  and  told 
Herakles,  thinking  that  a  beast  had  slain  him,  and  in  vain  the 
hero  wandered  back  and  forth  through  the  forest  searching  for 
the  lad,  being  away  so  long  that  his  friends  on  the  Argo  forgot 
him  and  put  to  sea  without  him. 

Coming  next  to  the  country  of  the  Bebrykians,  the  Argo- 
nauts were  challenged  by  King  Amykos  to  choose  one  of 
their  number  to  contend  with  him  in  boxing,  and  Polydeukes, 
brother  of  Kastor,  offered  himself.  Fighting,  each  with  his  box- 
ing gauntlets  on,  they  smote  one  another  with  such  blows 
"as  when  shipwrights  with  their  hammers  smite  ships'  tim- 
bers," ^  until  at  last  Polydeukes  placed  a  blow  squarely  on 
Amykos's  head,  and  he  fell  to  the  ground  with  his  skull  crushed 


\- 1 


If! 


j  I 


PLATE   XXVI 1 1 

Medeia  at  Corinth 

(Lowest  panel.)  Beginning  at  the  left  the  sculptor 
has  depicted  serially  the  last  scenes  in  Medeia's  life  at 
Corinth.  In  the  first,  she  dismisses  her  two  children 
with  th."  fatal  gifts  for  Glaukc.  In  the  second,  the 
princess,  wrapped  in  the  burning  robe  and  with  her 
hair  aflame,  is  writhing  in  agony,  while  Kreon,  her 
father,  stands  near  her,  visibly  tortured  by  the  thought 
that  he  is  unable  to  help  her.  Meanwhile  the  children, 
terrified  at  the  havoc  which  they  have  wrought,  hasten 
to  find  their  mother.  In  the  last  scene  Medeia  is 
stepping  into  the  chariot,  drawn  by  winged  dragons, 
opportunely  sent  to  her  by  her  grandsire,  Helios. 
From  a  sarcophagus  in  Berlin  (Brunn-Bruckmann, 
Denimiiler  griechinher  und  romiicher  Sculptur^  No. 
490).     See  p.  115. 


in 


mi: 


m 
Itlli 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  ARGO 


III 


in.  At  that  moment  the  Bcbrykian  people  assailed  the  slayer 
of  their  king,  but  his  companions  repelled  them  and  overran 
the  land,  taking  much  booty. 

On  the  following  day  they  passed  through  the  Bosporos  and 
touched  at  the  home  of  the  blind  old  seer  Phincus,  whom  the 
gods  had  not  only  punished  with  blindness,  but  had  doomed 
never  to  taste  of  food  from  his  own  board.  Whenever  viands 
were  placed  before  him,  the  Harpies  would  pounce  upon  them 
and  carry  them  off,  leaving  an  overpowering  stench.  Phineus 
asked  the  Argonauts,  Zetes  and  Kalais,  to  fulfil  a  certain  proph- 
ecy and  free  him  from  these  pests,  and,  accordingly,  when  the 
Harpies  came  to  seize  the  next  meal,  the  winged  heroes  fled 
aloft  and  pursued  them  so  far  out  to  sea  that  Iris  took  pity 
on  them  and  pledged  that  their  depredations  would  cease. 
The  Argo's  crew  then  spread  a  bountiful  fcas;  for  Phineus  to 
celebrate  the  breaking  of  his  long  fast,  and  heard  from  his  lips 
a  prophecy  outlining  their  journey  and  foretelling  their  suc- 
cess as  far  as  Kolchis.  The  rest  of  their  future  he  veiled  in 
silence. 

Leaving  the  Bosporos,  they  were  safely  guided  by  Athene 
through  the  dangerous  Symplegades,  two  great  moving  rocks 
which  cleaved  the  waves  more  swiftly  than  the  tempest,  and 
coming  to  the  open  Euxine  they  turned  their  prow  to  the  east 
and  pressed  on  to  the  island  of  Thynias,  and  thence  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Acheron,  where  several  of  them  were  killed. 
Though  discouraged,  they  sailed  to  Sinopc,  past  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Halys  and  the  country  of  the  Amazons,  to  the 
Chalybes  (the  nation  of  iron-workers)  and  to  the  Mossynoikoi 
(the  people  of  topsy-turvy  morals),  and  halted  at  the  Isle  of 
Ares,  where  the  sea-birds  dropped  sharp,  feathered  shafts  upon 
them.  Here  they  found  four  sons  of  Phrixos  who  had  been 
shipwrecked  in  sailing  away  from  Kolchis,  and  who  endeavoured 
to  dissuade  lason  from  pursuing  his  errand  further,  but  to  no 
purpose,  for  lason  all  the  more  eagerly  urged  his  companions 
on.  At  last  they  came  to  the  river  Phasis,  on  one  bank  of  which 


i  Ji 


ll|i 


.  H 


t-H 


II. 


GRKEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


stood  the  city  and  pahicc  of  Aictcs,  while  on  the  other  was  the 
gnn-o  shclti-Ting  the  Golden  Fleece. 

The  gods  now  began  to  intrigue  in  favour  of  the  Argonauts. 
Hera  and  Atiiene  beguiled  Aphrodite  to  instil  a  passion  for 
lason  in  the  heart  of  Medeia,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Aietcs. 
This  was  of  supreme  moment  for  the  Argonaut  leader,  since 
without  her  assistance  he  would  have  been  helpless  before 
the  task  which  Aietes  demanded  that  he  accomplish  as  the 
price  of  the  fleece,  this  requirement  being  to  plough  a  field 
with  a  yoke  c)f  bulls  with  brazen  feet  and  flaming  breath,  to 
sow  it  with  dragon's  teeth,  and  then  to  slay  the  armed  men 
that  should  spring  up  from  this  strange  seed.  Now,  since 
Medeia  was  a  sorceress  and  a  priestess  of  Hekate,  she  com- 
pounded a  drug  which  would  render  one  anointed  with  it  im- 
mune from  fire  and  iron  for  one  day,  and  secretly  meeting 
lason  she  gave  it  to  him.  After  telling  one  another  of  their 
love,  they  parted,  and  at  dawn  lason,  with  his  body  and  ar- 
mour anointed  with  Medeia's  charm,  faced  the  ferocious  bulls. 
Throwing  them  with  ease,  he  forced  them  to  submit  to  the 
yoke  and  to  plough  the  field,  and  when  the  warriors  had 
sprung  up  from  the  dragon's  teeth  scattered  broadcast,  he 
hurled  a  stone  into  their  midst,  as  Kadmos  had  done  at  Thebes, 
and  set  them  to  killing  one  another.  He  had  now  completed 
his  task  unharmed,  and  Aietcs  was  filled  with  dismay. 

As  soon  as  Medeia  realized  the  full  meaning  of  what  she  had 
done,  she  fled  secretly  to  lason  and  promised  to  help  him  win 
the  Golden  Fleece  if  he  would  pledge  his  word  to  take  her 
with  him  to  Hellas  and  make  her  his  bride.  Accepting  this 
condition,  lason  was  led  by  her  to  the  oak  on  which  the  fleece 
was  hung,  and  while  she  cast  a  spell  on  the  dragon,  he  snatched 
the  prize  and  fled  with  her  to  the  Argo.  They  were  soon  well 
out  to  sea,  hot'y  pursued  by  Aietes,  but  when  Medeia  saw  her 
father  drawing  nearer,  she  resorted  to  a  cruel  device  to  check 
him.  Killing  her  brother  Apsyrtos,  whom  she  had  taken  with 
her,  she  scattered  his  severed  members  over  the  water,  thus 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  ARGO 


113-- 


forcing  Aietes,  through  his  sense  of  piety,  to  collect  them  and 
to  go  ashore  and  give  them  proper  burial.  In  the  meantime  the 
Argo  had  out-distanced  him  and  safely  reached  the  delta  of  the 
Danube,  and  although  a  few  Kolchians  came  up  a  little  later, 
they  were  beaten  off. 

Somehow  (in  defiance  of  the  geography  of  the  region  as  it 
is  known  today)  the  Argonauts  made  their  way  by  water  to 
the  head  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  and  thence  went  southward  to  the 
island  of  Kerkyra  (Corfu).  With  human  voice  the  Argo  now 
spoke  to  them  solemn  words  of  warning,  declaring  that  for 
the  murder  of  Apsyrtos  their  home-coming  would  be  delayed 
by  Zeus  until  they  should  reach  Ausonia  and  be  purged  of  their 
sin  by  Kirke.  In  search  of  this  strange  land  they  sailed  to  the 
river  Eridanos  and  to  the  Rhodanos  (Rhone),  but,  warned  by 
Hera,  avoided  the  Rhine.  At  length  they  found  their  goal, 
and,  being  purified,  with  joyful  hearts  turned  their  prow  toward 
Hellas  under  the  safe  guidance  of  the  Nereids. 

The  Argonauts'  route  led  them  past  Anthemoessa,  the  island 
of  the  Sirens,  whose  blandishments,  however,  did  not  over- 
come them,  for  the  song  of  their  companion  Orpheus  drowned 
the  alluring  voices.  They  fared  past  Skylla  and  Charybdis  and 
the  island  of  Thrinakia,  with  its  herds  of  the  cattle  of  the  Sun, 
and  came  to  the  land  of  the  Phalakians.  In  this  place  they 
were  met  by  a  band  of  Kolchians  who  demanded  the  restora- 
tion of  Medeia,  but  the  Phaiakian  king  intervened  as  arbiter, 
and  said  that  she  would  be  surrendered  only  on  condition 
that  she  were  yet  unwedded  to  lason,  whereupon  the  pair 
made  haste  to  become  man  and  wife  and  foiled  the  Kol- 
chians' plans.  After  a  sojourn  of  many  days  among  the  hos- 
pitable Phaiakians,  the  men  of  the  Argo  resumed  their  jour- 
ney, but  when  they  were  just  in  sight  of  the  Peloponnesos  they 
were  driven  by  a  northerly  gale  across  the  sea  to  Libya,  and 
were  held  by  the  shoals  of  the  Syrtes.  As  lason  was  wondering 
how  to  extricate  his  ship  from  these  dangerous  waters,  he  had 
a  fortunate  dream,  being  told  in  vision  that  he  would  see  a 


n 


f  I 


[| 


114         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  NnTHOLOGY 

horse  emerge  from  the  deep  and  that  the  Argonauts,  taking 
their  vessel  tm  their  slioulders,  were  to  follow  the  steed  whither- 
soever it  miglit  lead.  The  prediction  came  true,  and  for  twelve 
days  and  twelve  nights  they  were  guided  overland  by  a  horse 
to  the  Tritonian  Lake,  near  which  they  found  the  Hcsperidcs, 
who  informed  them  that  Ilerakles  had  been  there  only  the  day 
before  in  quest  of  the  Golden  Apples.  Desirous  of  seeing 
their  former  comrade,  they  searched  the  wild  countrj-  round- 
about, but  with  no  more  result  than  to  discover  that  they 
were  hopelessly  lost  in  a  strange  land,  until,  in  their  despair, 
Triton  appeared  to  them  and  showed  them  the  way  to  the  Sea 
of  Minos. 

Reaching  the  sea,  they  sailed  to  Crete,  but  when  they  at- 
tempted to  land  they  were  beaten  off  by  the  Cretan  coast- 
patrol,  Tabs.*  Now  this  man  was  one  of  the  Race  of  Bronze, 
and  from  his  neck  to  each  of  his  ankles  ran  a  great  vein,  the 
lower  end  of  which  was  stopped  by  a  bronze  stud,  which  was 
his  vulnerable  spot.  Putting  Talos  under  a  spell,  Medeia 
drew  out  a  stud  and  let  him  bleed  to  death.  After  a  delay  in 
Crete  of  only  one  day  the  heroes  hastened  past  Aigina  and 
Euboia  and  soon  entered  their  home  port  of  Pagasai  from  which 
they  had  set  out  four  months  before. 

Thf  Death  0/  Pdias.  —  The  end  of  the  voyage  is  not  the  end 
of  the  story.  So  far  was  the  perfidious  Pclias  from  yielding  his 
kingdom  now  that  his  conditions  had  been  fulfilled  that  he 
even  plotted  against  lason  and  his  family,  Aison  and  his 
w  ife  were  driven  lo  take  their  own  lives,  and  lason,  for  safety's 
sake,  withdrew  to  Corinlli,  where  he  dedicated  the  Argo  to 
Poseidon  and  from  where  he  never  ceased  sending  messages  to 
Medeia,  encouraging  her  to  devise  some  means  of  removing 
Pelias.  According  to  another  form  of  the  story,  Medeia  by  her 
magic  arts  restored  both  lason  and  his  father  to  youth,  thus 
arousing  in  the  hearts  of  the  daughters  of  Pelias  so  keen  a  desire 
that  their  father,  too,  should  be  rejuvenated  that  the  sorceress 
professed  to  give  them  a  recipe  for  this  transformation  and  a 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  ARGO 


"5 


demonstration  of  its  working.  Cutting  up  the  body  of  an  old 
goat,  she  boiled  the  pieces  with  some  herbs  in  a  cauldron,  and 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  process  a  kid  emerged  from  the  magic 
stew.  Just  as  the  wily  Medeia  had  calculated,  the  loving  daugh- 
ters of  Pelias  submitted  their  father  to  a  similar  process  and 
brought  about  his  death.  For  her  part  in  this  murder  Medeia 
was  exiled  from  lolkos  along  with  lason. 

lason  and  Medeia  in  Corinth.  —  The  exiles  took  refuge  in 
Corinth.  For  about  ten  years  they  lived  happily  together,  but 
at  length  the  differences  between  the  Greek  and  the  barbarian 
temperaments  became  painfully  apparent,  and  a  domestic 
clash  ensued,  so  that  finally  lason  set  Medeia  and  her  two 
children  aside,  and  took  the  Corinthian  princess,  Glauke,  as  his 
wife.  lason  ought  to  have  known  his  revengeful  Medeia  too 
well  to  have  followed  such  a  course,  for  through  her  children 
she  sent  a  poisoned  robe  and  garland  to  Glauke,  who,  when  she 
put  them  on,  was  burned  to  death.  After  her  children  had  re- 
turned from  their  errand,  Medeia  pierced  them  witii  a  sword 
and  fled  to  Athens  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  winged  dragons  which 
had  been  sent  to  her  by  her  grandsire,  Helios. 

Medeia  in  Athens.  —  In  Athens  Medeia  became  the  wife  of 
Aigeus  and  bore  him  a  son  Medos,  but  when  she  plotted  to 
take  the  life  of  Theseus,  she  and  her  son  were  banished  from 
the  kingdom.  Medos  conquered  the  barbarians  of  the  east 
and  called  the  country  Media,  while  his  mother  returned  in 
disguise  to  her  native  l.-nd,  expelled  her  uncle  Perses,  'vho  had 
usurped  the  throne,  and  restored  her  father  Aietes  to  his 
rights. 

Some  students  of  myth  interpret  the  incidents  gathering 
about  the  life  and  death  of  Pelias  as  originating  In  a  nature- 
myth,  but  it  seems  much  more  in  harmony  with  the  known 
processes  of  the  growth  of  myth  to  infer  that  the  story  is  an 
epic  development  of  an  early  historical  incident,  or  of  a  group 
of ; elated  incidents.  Pelias  appears  to  have  been  the  hero  of  ?n 
agricultural  people  of  southern  Thessaly  who  were  led  with 


I —  12 


(III 


Ii6         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

"rcat  reluctance  to  abandon  agriculture  a<^  their  chief  means  of 
subsistence  and  to  take  to  sea-faring  instead.  The  adventures 
of  the  Argonauts  are,  therefore,  wild  exaggerations  of  the 
yarns  of  sailors,  who  in  very  early  times  penetrated  the  strange 
lands  of  the  Mediterranean  basin,  interwoven  with  many 
genuine  folk-tales. 


PLATE   XXIX 


Priam  before  Achilles 


Achilles,  a  beardless  young  man,  half-reclining  on 
a  couch  beside  a  table  laden  with  viands,  holds  in  his 
left  hand  a  piece  of  meat  while  with  his  right  hand  he 
raises  a  dagger  or  a  knife  to  his  lips.  He  seems  to  be 
giving  orders  to  a  slave  in  utter  disregard  of  the  pres- 
ence of  Priam,  who  stands  before  him  at  the  head  of 
a  group  of  slaves  bearing  a  variety  of  gifts.  The 
body  of  Hektor  lies  limply  at  full  length  beneath  the 
couch.  In  the  background  can  be  seen  Achilles' 
shield  with  its  gorgoneiony  Corimhinn  helmet,  quiver,  and 
some  garments.  From  a  red-figured  shphos,  apparently 
by  Brygos  (early  fifth  century  B.C.),  in  Vienna  (Furt- 
wangler-Reichhold,  Griechische  FasenmaUrei,  No.  84). 
See  p.  130. 


Peleus  and  Thetis 

This  scene,  in  which  the  artist  has  boldly  violated 
the  law  of  the  unity  of  time,  depicts  the  attempts  of 
Thetis  to  escape  from  the  embraces  of  Peleus.  In  the 
background  the  goddess  appears  in  human  shape,  while 
her  assumption  of  the  form  of  a  dolphin  is  suggested 
by  the  dolphin  which  she  holds  in  her  right  hand.  The 
lion-fish  between  her  and  Peleus,  the  flame  on  the  altar, 
and  the  serpent  above  it,  similarly  suggest  other  of  her 
transformations.  The  woman  hurrying  away  to  the 
right  may  be  a  sea-nymph.  From  a  black-figured  leky- 
thes  (fifth  centurv  B.C.)  with  a  white  ground,  found  at 
Geia  {Monumenti  Jntichi,  xvii,  Plate  XIII).  See 
p.   122. 


n\^ 


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Km 


■■  ll 


II 


U 


f;  I 


CHAPTER   VIII 
THE  TALE  OF  TROY 

THE  tale  of  Troy,  like  that  of  the  Argonauts,  is  in  its  com- 
plete form  a  tissue  of  many  stories  woven  at  sundry  times 
about  a  single  great  incident.  Some  of  the  legends  deal  with 
secular  facts  directly  pertinent  to  the  incident,  the  war  for  Troy 
and  the  command  of  the  Dardanelles.  Some  are  plainly  folk- 
tales of  a  variety  of  origins,  dragged  in,  so  to  speak,  as  em- 
bellishments to  an  interesting  theme.  Some,  not  wholly  to 
be  differentiated  from  the  preceding  class,  are  myths  drawn 
from  certain  cults  and  rituals,  and  others  must  be  purely  con- 
scious inventions.  The  tale  of  Troy  is  not  a  drama,  but  rather 
a  great  treasury  of  dramas,  and  most  of  its  personages,  both 
human  and  divine,  have  been  made  known  to  us  in  scenes  al- 
ready portrayed.  We  must  now  marshal  the  human  personages 
by  families  and  sketch  those  parts  of  their  histories  which,  in 
combination,  led  up  to  the  great  war. 

The  House  0/  Dardanos.  —  Dardanos,  a  son  of  Zeus,  lived  in 
the  island  of  Samothrace  with  his  brother  lasion,  who  was 
struck  dead  by  a  thunderbolt  for  a  shameful  crime,  while 
Dardanos,  in  grief,  left  his  home  and  established  a  new  one  on 
the  Asiatic  mainland  near  the  mouth  of  the  Hellespont.  Find- 
ing favour  with  Teukros,  the  king  of  the  land,  he  was  given  a 
tract  in  which  he  built  a  city  called  after  himself,  and  later 
he  inherited  the  sovereignty  and  changed  the  name  of  the 
entire  country  to  Dardania.  After  him  the  throne  was  occupied 
successively  by  a  son  Erichthonios,  and  by  a  grandson  Tros,  who 
saw  fit  to  call  the  country  Troia.  This  Tros  had  three  sons, 
Ganymedes,  Assarakos,  and  Ilos.    The  first,  while  still  a  youth. 


fi 


i! 


it 


m 


Il8         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

was  loved  by  Zeus  for  his  beauty  and  was  carried  away  by  an 
eagle  to  Olympos,  where  he  became  the  cup-bearer  of  the  king 
of  the  gods.  Assarakos  is  known  chiefly  through  his  descend- 
ants; a  grandson,  Anchises,  became  by  Aphrodite  the  father 
of  the  great  Aincias.  In  a  wrestling  contest  in  Phrygia  Uos  won 
as  a  prize  fifty  youths  and  fifty  maidens,  and  received  from  the 
king  of  the  country  a  spotted  heifer  which  he  was  directed  to 
follow  until  it  should  lie  down;  on  that  spot  he  was  to  estab- 
lish a  city.  In  accordance  with  these  directions  he  founded 
Ilion,  and  after  praying  for  a  sign  of  the  approval  of  Zeus,  he 
discovered  standing  before  his  tent  the  palladion,  an  image  of 
Pallas  Athene  of  almost  human  size.  Building  a  shrine,  he 
placed  the  statue  within  it  as  a  symbol  of  his  city's  life,  and  at 
his  death  the  chief  authority  was  left  in  the  hands  of  his  son 
Laomedon,  whom  Heraklcs  afterward  killed  for  his  failure  to 

keep  his  word. 

With  Ilo-'s  son  Podarkes,  later  known  as  Priamos  (Priam), 
begins  the  important  part  of  the  history  of  Ilion  or  Troy. 
Priam  first  wedded  Arisbe,  and  afterward  Hckabe  (in  Latin, 
Hecuba),  the  daughter  of  Kisscus  (or  Dymas,  or  Sangarios). 
The  first  child  that  Hekabe  gave  him  was  the  mighty  Hektor, 
but  when  she  was  about  to  bring  another  infant  into  the  world, 
she  dreamed  that  she  had  given  birth  to  a  flaming  torch  which 
fired  and  consumed  Ilion,  and  this  vision  a  reader  of  dreams 
interpreted  to  mean  that  the  babe  would  destroy  his  native 
city.  Priam,  in  fear  of  the  sign,  had  him  exposed  immediately 
after  birth  on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Ida,  but,  as  the  Fates  would 
have  it,  he  was  first  nourished  by  a  she-bear,  and  was  then  found 
by  a  herdsman,  wi  o  -eared  him  till  he  had  attained  the  years 
of  manhood.  The  name  first  given  to  him  was  Paris,  but  for 
his  success  in  warding  off  robbers  from  the  folds  and  for  his 
beauty  it  was  changed  to  Alcxandros  ("Defender  of  Men"). 
It  happened  that  a  favourite  bullock  of  his  herd  was  sent  to 
Priam  as  a  victim  for  a  sacrifice  which  the  king  was  to  offer 
for  the  very  son  whom  he  had  exposed,  but  Paris  followed  the 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


119 


beast  to  Ilion  and  in  a  series  of  contests  overcame  a  number 
of  his  brothers.  Just  as  Deiphobos,  one  of  them,  was  about  to 
thrust  him  through  with  a  sword,  Kassandra,  his  sister,  with 
licr  divine  vision  recognized  him  and  led  him  to  Priam,  who 
gave  him  a  place  in  his  rightful  home.  Later  on  he  married  the 
prophetess  Oinone. 

The  House  of  Tantalos.  —  Tantalos,  who  was  a  son  of  Zeus 
and  the  nymph  Plouto,  and  lived  on  Mount  Sipylos  near  the 
Lydian  city  of  Sardeis,  was  so  wise  that  Zeus  confided  to  him 
his  secret  thoughts  and  even  admitted  him  to  the  banquets  of 
the  gods.  At  one  of  these  feasts  he  placed  before  the  gods  the 
severed  members  of  his  son  Pelops,  but  only  Demeter  took  a 
portion,  whereas  the  others,  observing  that  the  flesh  was 
human,  united  in  restoring  the  boy  to  life.  Instead  of  the 
shoulder  which  she  had  eaten  Demeter  inserted  a  piece  of 
ivory  which  remained  with  him  all  his  days  and  became  so 
much  a  natural  part  of  him  that  each  of  his  descendants  in- 
herited an  ivory  shoulder.  For  his  sin  against  the  gods  Tan- 
talos received  special  punishments  in  the  underworld. 

The  restored  Pelops  was  endowed  with  such  beauty  that 
Poseidon  gave  him  a  chariot  which  would  fly  over  land  and 
sea,  and  confident  in  his  charms  he  presented  himself  as  a 
suitor  of  Hippodameia,  the  daughter  of  Oinomaos,  king  of 
Pisa  in  Elis.  The  maiden  reciprocated  his  love,  but  he  was 
unable  to  wed  her  because  of  the  strange  conditions  imposed 
by  her  father,  who  had  been  told  by  an  oracle  that  he  would  be 
murdered  by  the  man  who  should  wed  his  daughter.  Resolved 
to  defeat  the  oracle  by  having  no  son-in-law,  he  challenged 
each  of  his  daughter's  suitors  to  a  chariot-race,  stipulating 
that  if  the  suitor  -von  he  was  to  receive  Hippodameia,  but  that 
if  he  lost  he  was  to  be  killed.  Carried  by  his  horses,  which  were 
swifter  than  the  north  wind,  Oinomaos  had  always  overtaken 
the  suitors,  as  a  row  of  heads  before  his  palace  eloquently 
testified,  but  Pelops  knew  all  this  and  bribed  Myrtilos,  the 
king's  charioteer,  to  draw  the  linchpins  of  his  master's  car, 


If 


;  ! 
1 

:     % 


It    I 


I         j   ! 


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^1? 


I20         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

so  tliat  in  the  race  with  Pclops  Oinomaos  was  thrown,  and, 
caught  in  the  reins,  was  draj:ged  to  his  death.  With  Hippo- 
dameia  Pelops  sailed  to  his  home  in  Argos,  where  there 
were  afterward  born  to  them,  among  other  sons,  Atreus  and 
Thycstes. 

For  the  sins  of  Tantalos  an  inevitable  curse  of  family  strife 
and    bloodshed    followed    all    the   generations   of   his    house. 
Unknown  to  Atreus,  his  wife  yielded  herself  and  her  affections 
to  Thyestcs.   Now  Atreus  had  promised  to  sacrifice  to  Artemis 
the  most  beautiful  animal  that  should  be  found  among  his 
flocks,  but  when  one  of  his  ewes  gave  birth  to  a  golden  lamb,' 
he  greedily  coveted  the  precious  creature,  and  strangling  it 
hid  its  body  in  a  chest  that  the  goddess  might  not  see  it. 
Besides   himself,  only  his  wife   knew  of  this  lamb,  which  he 
seemed  to  regard  as  the  emblem  of  the  kingship  at  Mykenai, 
and  she  privily  gave  it  to  Thyestcs,  who  thereby  secured  the 
throne.     Prompted   by  Zeus,  Atreus  made   a   pact  with  his 
brother  that  if  the  sun  should  be  seen  to  reverse  its  usual 
course,  the  kingship  was  to  revert  to  himself.    One  morning 
the  sun  chanced  to  be  in  total  eclipse.     Interpreting  this  as 
the  setting  of  the  sun  in  the  east,  Thycstes  yielded  to  Atreus, 
and  then,  when  all   his  iniquity  was   revealed,  was  expelled 
from  the  country.    Some  time  afterward,  under  the  guise  of  a 
reconciliation,  Atreus   recalled   him,   but   actually   it  was   in 
order  to  wreak  a  most  revolting  revenge,  for  he  killed  Thycstes' 
children  and  served  their  cooked  flesh  to  their  parent,  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  meal,  with  ghoulish  satisfaction,  made  known 
to  the  father  the  nature  of  the  food.    Thyestcs  fled,  plotting 
revenge  in  his  turn,  and  an  oracle  declared  to  him  that  his 
desire  would  be  realized  through  a  son  whom  he  should  beget 
by  his  own  daughter.    His  spirit  rebelling  at  the  thought,  he 
endeavoured  by  all  possible  means  to  avoid  bringing  the  oracle 
to  fulfilment,  even  though  he  should  lose  his  kingdom.  Destiny 
was  against  him,  however,  for  Aigisthos,  a  son  of  unwitting 
incest,  restored  him  to  Mykenai,  where  he  ruled  until  driven 


PLATE   XXX 

The  Sacrifice  of  Iphic.eneia 

Diomcdes  and  Odysseus,  a  strongly  built,  bearded 
man,  are  carrying  Iphigencia  to  the  altar  faintly  visible 
at  the  right  of  the  scene.  The  maiden  raises  her 
hands  toward  her  father,  Agamemnon,  the  veiled  per- 
sonage to  the  left,  in  a  last  appeal  for  help.  Between 
her  and  the  altar  towers  the  foreboding  figure  of  Kai- 
chas,  clad  in  his  ceremonial  robes  and  meditatively 
holding  the  sacrificial  knife  in  his  raised  right  hand. 
High  in  a  background  of  cloud  a  nymph  is  leading  a 
deer  to  Artemis,  whose  image,  flanked  by  hunting- 
dogs,  stands  on  the  column  beside  Agamemnon. 
From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting  (Hermann-Bruck- 
mann,  Dtnkmaltr  dtr  Malertl  des  JItertums,  No.  15). 
Sec  pp.  125-26. 


i 

1 

-11 

THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


121 


out  by  Atreus's  sons,  Agamemnon  ind  Mcnel.ios,  aided  by 
Tyndarcos  of  Sparta.  These  two  sons  married  daughters  of 
Tyndarcos;  the  former  took  Klytaimestra  and  ri. 'cd  at  My- 
kenai,  and  the  latter  wedded  Helen  and  succeeded  his  father- 
in-law  on  the  throne  of  Sparta. 

The  House  oj  Aiakos.  —  After  her  removal  tr  the  island  of 
Oinone,  as  we  have  read  in  the  tales  of  Corinth,  the  nymph 
Aigina  bore  to  Zeus  a  son  named  Aiakos.  Noticing  that  he 
was  without  companions,  his  father,  turning  the  ants  of  the 
island  into  human  beings,  made  Aiakos  their  king,  and  by  a 
play  on  the  Greek  word  for  ant  (nvpti.i]()  these  ant-men  were 
known  as  Myrmidons.  By  a  first  marriage  Aiakos  had  two 
sons,  Pcleus  and  Telamon,  and  by  a  second,  another  son, 
Phokos.  Of  all  men  of  that  age  Aiakos  was  the  most  devoted 
to  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  so  dear  was  he  to  them  on  that 
account  that  when  a  famine  came  upon  Hellas,  they  removed  it 
in  answer  to  his  supplication  alone,  while  after  death  he  was 
accorded  a  high  place  in  tnt     Hgdom  of  Hades. 

Spurred  on  by  jealousy,  1  cleus  and  Telamon  killed  their 
brother  Phokos  and  for  their  crime  were  sent  into  exile. 
Telamon  took  refuge  in  the  island  of  Salamis,  where  later  he 
became  king  and  married  into  the  line  of  Pelops,  the  fruit  of 
this  union  being  the  hero  Aias  (Ajax).  Afterward  Telamon 
accompanied  Herakles  on  his  expedition  against  Troy,  and  as 
a  reward  for  his  services  received  Hesione,  by  whom  he  became 
the  father  of  Teukros. 

Peleus  made  his  way  to  Phthia  in  Thessaly  and  there  won 
the  king's  daughter  and  a  portion  of  land.  Accidentally  killing 
his  father-in-law,  he  hastened  to  lolkos,  where  Akastos  purged 
him  of  his  pollution,  and  where,  too,  Akastos's  wife  made  the 
same  charge  against  him  that  Proitos's  wife  had  alleged  against 
Bellerophon.  Akastos  believed  the  tale,  as  was  only  too  nat- 
ural, but  'earing  to  take  Peleus's  life  openly  resorted  to  many 
underhanded  plots,  although  in  the  end  Pcleus  was  saved  by 
the  Centaur  Cheiron,  and  from  that  day  these  two  were  fast 


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122         GREEK  AND   ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

friends.  Becoming  enamoured  of  the  sca-nymph  Thetis,  the 
daughter  of  Ncrcus,  and  finding  himself  baffled  by  her  power 
to  assume  any  shape  she  wished,  he  was  counselled  by  the 
wise  Cheiron  to  seize  her  and  defy  her  elusivencss.  This  he  did, 
and  though  she  became  now  fire,  now  water,  and  now  beast,  he 
clung  to  her  until,  resuming  her  normal  form,  she  consented 
to  marriage,  and  they  were  wedded  on  Mount  Pelion  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  gods,  who  gave  them  many  priceless  gifts. 

In  due  time  a  son  was  born  to  Pcleus  and  Thetis,  and  to 
cleanse  him  of  his  inheritance  of  mortality  his  mother  would 
bathe  him  in  ambrosia  by  day  and  pass  him  through  fire  by 
night,  but  Pcleus  protested  at  the  harshness  of  the  treatment, 
and  Thetis,  offended,  retired  to  her  home  in  the  sea.    Peleus 
placed  the  infant  in  the  care  of  Cheiron,  who  fed  him  on  the 
flesh  and  marrow  of  wild  beasts,  and  gave  him  the  name  of 
Achilles  because  his  lips  had  not  touched  a  mother's  breast 
(by   a   false   etymology  with   a-,   "nut,"   and  x^tXo?,  "lip"), 
training  him,  too,  in  the  hunt  and  in  those  sports  that  develop 
the  peculiar  strength  and  beauty  of  a  man.  When  the  boy  was 
nine  years  old,  Kalchas,  the  prophet,  foretold  that,  if  he  went 
with  the  Greeks  against  Troy,  he  should  surely  die  there;  and 
yet,  he  said,  the  Hellenes  could  not  conquer  the  city  without 
him.  Through  a  strange  infatuation  Thetis  hoped  to  evade  the 
prophecy  and  sent  Achilles,  dressed  as  a  girl,  to  the  court  of 
Lykomcdes,  king  of  Skyros,  where  he  remained  for  six  years. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  Odysseus  was  deputed  by  the  Greeks 
to  go  to  Skyros  and  bring  Achilles  to  Troy,  but  the  young  man's 
disguise  safely  concealed  him  for  a  while.    At  length  the  wily 
Odysseus  had  his  men  blow  a  loud  alarm  of  trumpets,  when 
out  into  The  main  hall  of   the  palace   rushed  Achilles,  who 
thinking  an   enemy  was   upon  them   threw  off  his   feminine 
garb  and  donned  his  armour.    Now  that  his  identity  was  es- 
tablished,  he  was  easily  persuaded  by  Odysseus  to  espouse 
the  cause  of  the  Greeks,  and  with  his.  bosom  friend  Patroklos 
he  joined  the  host  at  Aulis. 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


123 


Diomedcs  and  Odysseus.  —  Of  all  the  other  heroes  who 
fought  about  Troy  the  most  conspicuous  are  Diomedcs  and 
Odysseus,  the  first  of  whom  was  the  son  of  that  Tydeus  who 
fell  before  Thebes.  A  warrio»"  from  his  youth,  he  took  part  in 
the  capture  of  Thebes  by  the  Epigonoi  and  led  to  Troy  eighty 
ships  from  the  Argolid  and  outlying  islands.  He  was  valiant 
in  battle,  resourceful  in  plotting,  and  wise  in  the  councils  of 
his  peers.  Frequently  associated  with  him,  especially  when 
trickery  was  to  be  employed,  was  Odysseus.  This  man  gen- 
erally passed  as  the  son  of  Antikleia,  a  daughter  of  Autolykos, 
and  of  Laertes,  though  some  gossipy  myths  will  have  it  that 
he  was  in  reality  the  son  of  Sisyphos,  his  craftiness  and  ver- 
satility being  thus  explained  as  inheritances  from  both  sides 
of  the  house.  Once  during  his  youth,  when  on  a  visit  to  his 
grandfather  Autolykos  near  Mount  Parnassos,  he  was  wounded 
on  the  knee  by  a  boar,  and  in  healing,  the  wound  left  a  scar  by 
which  he  was  recognized  years  afterward  by  his  old  nurse. 
Another  time,  when  Laertes  sent  him  to  the  mainland  to 
demand  restitution  from  certain  Messenians  who  had  carried 
off  some  of  their  sheep  from  Ithake,  he  met  Iphitos  and  re- 
ceived from  him  the  bow  which  only  Odysseus  could  draw. 
He  won  as  his  bride  Penelope,  the  daughter  of  Ikarios  of  Lake- 
daimon,  one  of  whose  c»cts,  soon  after  their  marriage,  fore- 
shadowed the  unswerving  fidelity  of  her  later  years.  It  is  said 
that  when  Odysseus  refused  to  make  his  home  in  Lakedaimon, 
Ikarios,  like  a  fond  parent,  persistently  besought  his  daughter 
to  remain  behind  her  husband,  until  at  last  Odysseus,  losing 
patience,  bade  her  choose  between  himself  and  her  father, 
whereupon,  without  a  word,  she  drew  down  her  veil  and  fol- 
lowed her  husband.  In  Ithake  she  bore  him  a  son  Telemachos, 
but  while  the  child  was  still  in  arms,  Alenelaos  came  with 
Palamedes  to  Odysseus  to  entreat  his  aid  against  Troy. 
Being  averse  to  war,  he  feigned  madness,  but  Palamedes  saw 
through  the  ruse,  and  taking  Telemachos  from  his  mother 
made  as  if  to  run  him  through  with  a  sword.  At  this  Odysseus 


li 


H' 


1* 


124         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

admitted  his  pretence,  but  though  he  consented  to  their  re- 
quest he  ever  after  bore  a  grudge  against  Palamedes. 

The  Kypria;  Traditional  Causes  of  the  War.  —  "There  was 
a  time  when  thousands  upon  thousands  of  men  cumbered  the 
broad  bosom  of  earth.  Having  pity  on  them,  Zeus  in  his  great 
wisdom  resolved  to  lighten  earth's  burden.  So  he  caused  the 
strife  at  Ilion  to  the  end  that  through  death  he  might  make  a 
void  in  the  race  of  men;  and  the  heroes  perished,  thus  bringing 
to  pass  the  will  of  Zeus."  In  these  words  the  late  epic  known 
as  the  Kypria,"^  with  an  almost  modern  political  casuistry, 
traces  the  cause  of  the  war  back  to  overpopulation.  Instead 
of  solving  the  problem  by  thunderbolt  and  flood,  Zeus  decided 
to  use  a  much  less  direct  method.  First  of  all  he  brought  about 
the  marriage  of  Thetis  with  the  mortal  Pcleus,  and  then  he 
begat  a  daughter  Helen,  who  was  so  beautiful  that  it  could 
be  said  of  her: 

"She  snareth  strong  men's  eyes;  she  snareth  tall 
Cities;  and  fire  from  out  her  eateth  up 
Houses.   Such  magic  hath  she,  as  a  cup 
Of  death." ' 

In  brief,  she  was  a  trouble-maker  by  birth.  Into  the  midst  of 
the  gods,  gathered  at  the  wedding  of  Peleus,  Zeus  sent  Eris, 
who  stirred  up  a  quarrelsome  debate  among  Hera,  Athene,  and 
Aphrodite,  as  to  which  of  them  was  the  most  beautiful;  and 
Zeus,  knowing  that,  woman-like,  they  could  ne^'er  settle  the 
question  of  themselves,  had  them  appear  on  Mount  Ida  before 
Paris  as  arbiter. 

"...  And  this  Paris  judged  beneath  the  trees 
Three  Crowns  of  Life,  three  diverse  Goddesses. 
The  gift  of  Pallas  was  of  War,  to  lead 
His  East  in  conquering  battles,  and  make  b'eed 
The  hearths  of  Hellas.    Hera  held  a  Throne  — 
If  majesties  he  craved  —  to  reign  alone 
From  Phrygia  to  the  last  realm  of  the  West. 
And  Cypris,  it  he  deemed  her  loveliest, 


;f,i 


iu 


W 


111 


PLATE   XXXI 

Hektor  Taking  Leave  o'  Andromache 

Owing  to  its  lack  of  feeling  this  scene  is  an  inade- 
quate illustration  of  the  famous  episode  in  the  sixth 
book  of  the  Iliad.  The  central  figures  are,  of  course, 
Hektor  and  Andromache.  Behind  the  former  his 
driver  Kebriones  is  mounted  on  one  of  the  two  chariot 
horses,  while  behinJ  the  latter  stand  Paris  and  Helen. 
The  figures  approaching  from  the  sides  are  not  named. 
From  a  Chalkidian  krater  of  about  550  B.C.,  in 
VVurzburg  (Furtwangler-Reichhold,  Griechische  Vasen- 
malerei.  No.  10 1).      See  p.  120. 


9iHi 

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ill 

III 


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THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


I2S 


Beyond  all  heaven,  made  dreams  about  my  face 

And  for  her  grace  pave  me  [i.  e.  Helen].  And,  lo!  her  grace 

Was  judged  the  fairest,  and  she  stood  above 

Those  twain."  * 

Paris  then  awarded  Aphrodite  the  apple  inscribed  with  the 
legend,  "To  the  most  beautiful." 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  goddess  whom  he  had  honoured 
Paris  built  a  ship  and  with  fair  omen:  went  to  Sparta,  where 
he  was  courteously  entertained.  During  an  absence  of  Menc- 
laos,  however,  he  threw  the  laws  of  hospitslity  to  the  winds, 
made  love  to  Helen,  and  at  last,  with  her  full  consent,  carried 
her  away  in  his  ship  along  with  her  jewels  and  handmaidens, 
landing  her  in  Troy  after  a  d'-vious  and  stormy  voyage. 
When  Menelaos  demanded  her  icturn  and  was  refused,  he 
remembered  the  oath  sworn  by  his  fellow-suitors  and  resolved 
to  invoke  their  aid  in  a  war  of  punishment;  wherefore,  with 
his  brother  Agamemnon  of  Alykenai,  he  gathered  together 
the  chieftains  of  the  Greeks  and  set  sail  from  Aulis.  They 
landed  first  on  the  coast  of  Teuthrania,  which  they  attacked 
under  the  impression  that  it  was  Troy,  and  here  it  was  that 
Telcphos,  the  son  of  Auge  and  Heraklcs,  was  sorely  wounded 
by  the  spear  of  Achilles.  When  the  Greeks  endeavoured  to 
sail  thence  to  their  proper  destination,  they  were  caught  by 
a  storm  and  driven  back  to  cheir  home  coasts.  Again  Menelaos 
marshalled  them  at  Aulis,  but  this  time  he  took  the  precau- 
tion of  securing  some  one  to  guide  them  straight  to  their  goal, 
and  such  a  leader  was  present  in  the  person  of  Telephos,  who, 
out  of  gratitude  for  having  his  wound  healed  by  the  same  spear 
with  which  it  had  been  caused,  consented  to  serve  the  Greeks. 
At  Aulis  Agamemnon  killed  a  sacred  hind  of  Artemis  and  the 
goddess  in  anger  sent  "on  that  great  host  storms  and  despair 
of  sailing,"  *  whereupon  Kalchas  consulted  the  omens  and 
made  known  to  Agamemnon  that  he  could  not  obta'n  fair 
winds  until  his  daughter  Iphigeneia  should  be  sacrificed  on  the 
altar  of  Artemis.  Shrinking  from  the  task  of  taking  the  maiden 


'li 


^m 


126         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

from  her  mother,  Agamemnon  deputed  it  to  Odysseus,  who, 
shamelessly  representing  that  she  was  to  become  the  bride  of 
Acliilles,  led  her  away  from  Mykenai.  Just  as  her  blood  was 
about  to  be  spilt  on  the  altar,  however,  Artemis  put  a  deer  in 
her  place  and  bore  her  away  unseen  to  the  land  of  the  barba- 
rous Tauri,  where  she  became  a  priestess  in  her  service.  Then 
the  seas  became  calm,  and  the  fleet  set  sail. 

On  their  way  the  Greeks  touched  at  Tenedos,  where  Philo- 
ktctes,  the  possessor  of  the  bow  of  Herakles,  received  on  the 
foot  a  serpent's  bite  which  developed  into  so  loathsome  a  sore 
that  he  had  to  be  removed  from  Lemnos.   At  length  the  army 
came  to  the  shores  of  Troy  and  found  their  landing  disputed 
by  the  Trojans.    Desirous  to  acquire  the  fame  of  being  the 
first  to  land,  although  it  meant  certain  death,  Protesilaos,  one 
of  the  younger  heroes,  leaped  ashore  and  fell  then  and  there 
before  the  spear  of  Hektor.   When  the  tidings  of  his  untimely 
death  reached  his  young  bride  Laodameia,  she  besought  the 
gods  that  for  three  hours  her  husband  be  restored  to  her. 
They  heard  her  prayer,  but  so  great  was  her  grief  at  the  hour 
of  his  final  departure  to  Hades  that  in  despair  she  made  an 
image  of  him,  and  finding   no  comfort   in   it   took  her  own 
life.    Unable  to  assail  Troy  directly  with  any  chances  of  suc- 
cess, the  Greeks  sacked  many  of  the  Trojans'  supply  cities  and 
captured  much  booty.    After  one  of  these  raids  Achilles  re- 
ceived as  his  prize  r  maiden,  Briseis,  and  Agamemnon  a-iother 
maiden,  ChryscVs,  a  daughter  of  Chryses,  a  priest  of  Apollo; 
and  it  was  th:  'Ugh  the  presence  of  these  maidens  in  the  camp 
tliat  the  great  wrath  of  Achilles  was  kindled  with  such  momen- 
tous consequences  for  the  Greeks. 

The  'Had.  —  The  poet  of  the  Kypria  gathered  up  the  legends 
describing  the  events  of  the  war  prior  to  the  action  of  the  Iliad 
of  Homer.  The  theme  of  the  Iliad,  on  the  contrary,  is  one  epi- 
sode alone,  the  Wrath  of  Achilles,  though  it  has  been  so 
treated  that  by  skilful  allusions  it  gives  glimpses  of  earlier 
happenings  of  the  war;  and  in  this  way  the  recital  of  the  poem 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


127 


is  devoid  of  the  monotony  that  would  otherwise  result  from  its 
failure  to  touch  on  raids  on  the  outlying  territories  of  Troy 
during  the  twenty-eight  days  allotted  to  the  action  of  the 
epic. 

Books  I-VI.  —  A  plague  fell  upon  the  Greek  host,  smiting 
man  and  beast  so  grievously  that  "the  pyres  of  the  dead  burnt 
continually  in  multitude,"  *  and  when  Kalchas  explained  this 
as  the  visitation  of  Apollo's  anger  for  the  seizure  of  Chryseis, 
Agamemnon,  with  bitter  reluctance,  restored  her  to  her  father, 
and  the  plague  was  stayed.  In  his  thoughtless  selfishness, 
however,  Agamemnon  took  Achilles'  Briseis  in  her  place, 
whereupon,  maddened  with  anger,  Achilles  swore  that  from 
that  day  he  would  withhold  his  strength  and  skill  from  the 
Greeks  even  though  many  of  them  should  fall  by  the  hand 
of  Hcktor;  and  in  her  sea-home  Thetis  heard  her  son's  com- 
plaint and  won  from  Zeus  the  promise  that  victory  would  be 
denied  the  Greeks  until  they  should  do  honour  to  Achilles. 
Prompted  by  Zeus  in  a  dream,  Agamemnon  mustered  the  army 
for  an  assault  on  Troy,  but  at  the  sight  of  the  Trojans'  prepara- 
tions for  resistance  he  weakened  in  his  purpose  and  like  a 
craven  suggested  to  the  Greeks  that  they  abandon  the  war 
as  hopeless.  The  stubborn  Odysseus  opposed  him,  however, 
and  forced  him  to  change  his  will  and  do  battle  with  the  foe. 
Long  the  tide  of  strife  swung  uncertainly  this  way  and  that, 
until  at  length  Hektor,  impatient  for  a  decision,  and  weary  of 
the  shameless  Helen,  proposed  that  Paris  and  Menelaos  fight 
a  duel  and  that  to  the  victor  Helen  and  her  wealth  be  finally 
surrendered.  By  an  oath  and  a  sacrifice  the  opposing  leaders 
ratified  their  willingness  to  stand  by  the  outcome  of  the  duel, 
and  Paris  and  Menelaos  then  came  forth  and  fought.  At  one 
moment,  when  Menelaos  had  Paris  at  his  mercy  and  the  end 
of  the  war  seemed  to  be  in  sight,  to  the  unspeai-  .ble  despair  of 
the  Greeks  Aphrodite  veiled  Paris  in  a  cloud  and  hurried  him 
away  to  safety  behind  the  walls.  The  gods,  taking  sides, 
willed  that  the  strife  continue  uncertain,  and  inspired  the  com- 


m 


r  1; 


:U] 


128 


CREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


batants  to  mingled  deeds  of  bravery  and  recklessness.  Pandaros 
the  Trojan  liglitly  wounded  Menelaos,  and  later  the  valiant 
Dioniedes  as  he  stormed  across  the  plain,  and  Diomedes,  in 
his  turn,  stung  to  rage  by  his  pain,  struck  both  Aphrodite  and 
Arcs  until  their  divine  blood  flowed  from  gaping  wounds, 
while  Apollo,  resentful  at  the  insolence  of  a  mortal,  roused  the 
Trojans  to  still  greater  resistance.  This  climax  of  human 
ferocity,  however,  was  relieved  by  scenes  of  tenderness  and 
affection  more  characteristic  of  peace  than  of  war,  for  when 
Glaukos  and  Diomedes  were  about  to  join  in  combat  they  dis- 
covered that  their  fathers  had  been  associated  in  friendship 
years  before.  Ff)rthwith  they  exchant^ed  armour  and  vowed 
to  avoid  one  another  thenceforth  in  the  field  of  battle,  and 
though  Glaukos  gave  gold  armour  for  bronze,  for  friendship's 
sake  he  kept  hidden  within  his  heart  any  regret  he  might  have 
felt.  Hektor,  returning  to  the  battle,  took  a  brave  soldier's 
farewell  of  his  wife  Andromache  and  of  his  child  Astyanax  in 
words  that  none  can  ever  forget:  "Dear  one,  I  pray  thee  be  not 
of  over-sorrowful  heart;  no  man  against  my  fate  shall  hurl 
me  to  Hades;  only  destiny,  I  ween,  no  man  hath  escaped,  be 
he  coward  or  be  he  valiant,  when  once  he  hath  been  born."  ^ 
Books  V'lI-XII.  —  Even  the  gods  grew  weary  of  this  fruit- 
l.^ss  melee  and  seeking  to  end  it  they  caused  Hektor  and  Aias 
to  fight  in  single  combat  until  a  truce  was  established  for  the 
two  armies.  During  the  armistice  the  Trojans  urged  Paris 
to  give  Helen  up,  but  he  would  consent  only  to  a  comprom.ise, 
the  surrender  of  her  wealth  with  the  addition  of  some  of  his 
own.  An  offer  to  this  effect  the  Greeks  scornfully  rejected  and 
prepared  to  carry  the  war  to  the  bitter  end,  so  that  on  the 
next  day  the  battle  began  afresh,  and  so  threatening  were  the 
assaults  of  the  Trojans  that  Agamemnon,  fearful  of  his  cause, 
sent  an  embassy  to  Achilles  bearing  a  confession  of  wrong  and 
promises  of  amends.  But  neither  confessions  nor  promises 
moved  the  wrathful  man,  who  even  hardened  his  heart  the 
more.   The  hopes  of  the  Greeks  fell,  only  to  be  revived  that 


■if! 


PLATE    XXXII 

Achilles  and  Thersitei 

The  most  conspicuoui  features  of  this  rather  de- 
tailed composition  depict  a  icene  from  the  Jithitpif. 
Achilles,  taunted  by  Thersiies  for  being  touched  with 
pity  for  the  fallen  Penthesilea,  has  drawn  his  sword  and 
beheaded  his  annoycr,  whose  mutilated  body  is  seen 
lying  in  the  lower  foreground.  The  elderly  Phoinix, 
perplexed  at  the  occurrence,  stands  near  Achilles  in 
the  facade.  Above  their  heads  hang  various  accoutre- 
ments of  war,  and  before  them  on  the  ground  near 
Thersites'  body  are  several  overturned  utensils,  em- 
blematic of  a  scene  of  violence.  From  a  large  South 
Italian  amphora  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.,  in  the 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston  (photograph).  See 
p.  130. 


^ii 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


129 


very  night  by  a  successful  raid  of  Diomedes  and  Odysseus  within 
the  Trojan  lines.  On  the  morrow,  however,  fortune  went  once 
more  against  them,  for  Agamemnon,  Diomedes,  and  Odysseus 
were  all  wounded,  and  the  Greeks  without  their  aid  were  forced 
to  retreat  to  the  line  of  their  ships. 

Books  XIII-XVIII.  —  V  'en  Agamemnon  was  on  the  point 
of  ordering  his  follow<  is  to  launc.''  the  ships  and  withdraw 
home,  Poseidon  came  id  his  help  and  breathed  strength  and 
valour  into  the  hearts  ■"  Aias,  the  son  of  Telamon,  and  Aias, 
the  son  of  Oileus.  At  the  head  of  the  Greeks  these  two 
wounded  Hcktor  and  routed  his  fellow-warriors;  but  their 
glory  was  brief,  for  Hcktor  was  revived  by  Apollo  and  led  his 
men  in  a  counter-attack  which  brought  them  once  more  to 
the  ships.  Thereupon  Patroklos  tried  to  persuade  Achilles 
to  forego  his  anger  and  rally  the  Greeks,  and  failing  in  this 
he  borrowed  Achilles'  armour  and  impetuously  rushed  into  the 
battle  himself,  scattering  the  foe  before  him  until  he  fell  a 
victim  to  the  weapons  of  Hektor  and  the  guile  of  Apollo. 
Hektor  despoiled  him  of  his  famous  armour,  but  the  Greeks 
after  a  long  struggle  obtained  possession  of  his  body.  Achilles' 
grief  kindled  within  him  a  hatred  of  the  Trojans  great  enough 
to  quench  his  wrath  at  Agamemnon,  and  unburdening  his 
heart  to  Thetis  she  brought  him  a  marvellous  set  of  armour 
newly  made  for  him  in  the  forges  of  Hephaistos,  at  the  sight  of 
which  the  spirit  of  vengeance  came  upon  him. 

Books  XIX-XXIV. — The  next  morning  Achilles  appeared 
before  the  Greeks,  saying:  "I  will  now  stay  my  anger.  It 
beseems  me  not  ever  implacably  to  be  wroth:  but  come  rouse 
speedily  to  the  fight  the  flowing-haired  Achaians,  that  I  may 
go  forth  against  the  men  of  Troy  and  put  them  again  to  the 
proof."  *  With  these  words  he  sallied  out  to  battle,  slaying 
many  of  the  Trojan  heroes  and  pursuing  many  others  into  the 
waters  of  the  river  Skamandros,  which,  when  it  turned  on 
him,  he  quelled  with  the  fires  of  Hephaistos.  The  Trojan  cause 
seemed  lost,  and  to  save  it,  Hektor,  despite  Priam's  entreaties, 


;:«  !" 


r  i! 


130         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

stepped  forth  from  the  city  gat  o  face  to  face  with  the  vic- 
torious Achilles.  Struck  suddenly  with  fear,  however,  the 
Trojan  hero  turned  and  fled,  while  Achilles  pursued  him,  once, 
twice,  and  thrice  around  the  walls,  and  then  brought  him  to 
the  ground,  dead,  after  which  he  mutilated  the  boay,  and 
binding  it  to  his  chariot  dragged  it  in  the  dust  while  Priam 
and  Andromache  looked  down  from  the  walls  of  Troy.  On  his 
return  to  the  camp  he  duly  burned  the  body  of  Patroklos  and 
held  funeral  games,  and  moved  by  the  tender  appeal  of  Thetis, 
he  yielded  the  body  of  Hektor  to  Priam,  besides  allowing  the 
Trojans  a  truce  of  twelve  days  in  which  to  perform  the  burial 
rites  of  their  noble  defender. 

The  Jithiopis;  '  The  Death  of  Achilles.  —  Arktinos  of  Mile- 
tos,  the  oldest  Greek  epic  poet  definitely  known,  wrote  the 
Jithiopis  as  a  chronicle  of  the  events  of  the  war  from  the  death 
of  Hektor  to  the  death  of  Achilles.  Achilles  himself,  broadly 
treated,  and  not  one  of  his  moods,  was  the  theme  of  the  poem, 
and  consequently  the  scenes  were  rather  mechanically  strung 
together  without  essential  unity. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  epic  the  Amazon,  Penthesilea,  was 
represented  as  coming  to  the  support  of  the  Trojans.  Achilles 
battled  with  her  as  though  she  hat'  been  a  man  and  killed  her, 
but  the  sight  of  her  beauty  as  she  lay  fallen  before  him  awakened 
his  remorse.  Thersites  observed  it  and  mocked  him  for  his 
weakness,  but  with  a  thrust  of  his  swor  1  Achilles  smote  him 
dead,  while  the  Greeks,  divided  among  themselves  as  to  the 
justice  of  the  deed,  became  involved  in  a  dissension  that  was 
not  healed  until  Achilles  was  ritually  washed  of  his  sin  in 
Lesbos.  Another  ally  now  joined  the  defenders  of  Troy  — 
Memnon,  a  nephew  of  Priam  and  the  son  of  Eos  and  Tithonos, 
who  came  from  Aithiopia.  Like  Achilles,  he  wore  armour 
curiously  fashioned  by  Hephaistos,  but  he  was  inferior  to  the 
Greek  in  head  and  hand  and  fell  before  him,  although,  at  the 
supplication  of  Eos,  Zeus  granted  him  immortality.  Achilles, 
just  as  he  was  about  to  follow  up  his  victory  with  the  rout  of 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


131 


the  foe,  was  slain  by  an  arrow  guided  by  Apollo  from  the  bow 
of  Paris,  but  in  the  melee  which  ensued  Aias,  the  son  of  Tela- 
mon,  carried  the  'lody  away  to  the  Greek  ships,  and  over  it 
Thetis,  her  sister  nymphs,  and  the  Muses  made  piteous  lam- 
entation.   When  at  last  it  lay  burning  on  the  pyre,  Thetis,  un- 
seen, snatched  it  from 
the  flames  and  bore  it 
away  to  the  White  Isle 
in  the  friendless  waters 
of  the  Euxine  Sea, 
where  Achilles  was  re- 
stored to  life  and  lived 
with  Helen  as  his  wife, 
although  some  said  that 
the  Greeks  mingled  his 
ashes  with  those  of  his 
friend   Patroklos,   and 
that  after  death  he  con- 
sorted with  Medeia  in 
the  Islands  of  the  Blest. 
The  Little  Iliad  and 
the    Ilioupersis;^^    The 
Fall  of  Troy.  —  In  the 
Little  Iliad  Lesches  of 
Lesbos   recounted    th'. 
events  of  the  siege  from 
the  death  of  Achilles  to 
the  entrance  of  the 
wooden  horse  into  Troy,  these  events  being  so  set  forth  as  to 
centre  about  the  person  of  Odysseus.   As  its  name  implies,  the 
Ilioupersis  ("Sack  of  Ilion")  of  Arktinos  deals  with  the  over- 
throw of  the  city. 

Aias,  the  son  of  Tclamon,  demanded  that  as  a  kinsman  of 
Achilles  he  should  be  given  the  dead  warrior's  arms,  but  since 

Odysseus  made  a  counter-claim,  the  sons  of  Atreus  instituted  a 
1  —  13 


Fig.  5.     The  Death  of  PENTHEsrLEA 

The  Amazon,  mortally  wounded  by  Achilles,  has 
fallen  to  the  ground,  and  Odysseus  (right)  and  Dio- 
medes  (left)  are  trying  to  help  her  to  stand;  but 
their  clfiTts  arc  in  vain,  for  her  head  droops  help- 
lessly for^vard  and  het  aims  hang  limply  in  the 
hands  that  support  them.  Krom  the  design  incised 
on  the  back  of  an  Etruscan  mirror  (Gerhard  and 
Korte,  Eirtukische  Spirgrl,  v,  Tafel  CXIII). 


ii 


ii.l 


■Ull 


132         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

contest  to  decide  the  future  ownership  of  the  weapons.   With 
the  help  of  Athene  Odysseus  won  them,  and  so  sore  a  wounr' 
was  this  to  the  pride  of  Aias  that  he  became  a  raving  madm; 
and  slew  himself.     By  means  of  an  ambuscade  Odysseus  cap- 
tured Helenos,  a  son  of  Priam  who  was  gifted  with  prophecy, 
and  obliged  him  to  forecast  the  outcome  of  the  war.    When 
his  answer  was  that  Troy  would  fall  before  the  bow  of  Herakles, 
Diomcdes  went  to  Lemnos  and  by  blandishments  and  wiles 
brought  back  with  him  Philoktetes,  who  had  the  bow,  and 
after  Philoktetes'  wound  had  been  healed  by  Machaon,  he 
strode  out  to  the  battle.   With  an  arrow  from  the  great  bow 
Paris  fell  mortally  wounded.    Only  Oinone,  his  former  wife, 
was  in  a  position  to  aid  him,  but  she  took  advantage  of  this 
opportunity  for  revenge  and  let  him  die;  and  after  Menelaos 
had  spitefully  abused  the  body,  the  Trojans  gave  it  burial. 
Neoptolemos    (or   Pyrrhos),   the   son  of   Achilles,   was   now 
brought  from  his  home  in  Skyros  to  buttress  the  Greek  cause, 
and  through  his  valour  the  enemy  were  sealed  within  their 
walls.    Craftily  Odysseus  made  his  way  within  the  city  and 
after  slaying  several  Trojans  returned  safely  with  the  sacred 
palladion  on  which  the  Trojans'  fortunes  hung.   Now  Epeios, 
instructed  by  Athene,  had  made  a  huge  hollow  horse  of  wood, 
in  which  were  hidden  fifty  of  the  most  valiant  of  the  Greek 
warriors,  while  the  rest  were  ordered  to  withdraw  to  Tenedos, 
leaving  the  horse  before  the  gates  of  Troy.   When  they  were 
gone,  the  citizens,  thinking  that  their  troubles  were  ended, 
emerged  from  their  gates  and  gathered  about  the  horse,  but 
were  much  puzzled  by  the  inscription  which  it  bore:  "A  thank- 
offering  from  the  Hellenes  to  Athene  for  their  home-return." 
Was  this  true,  or  was  it  only  a  ruse.?  Those  who  believed  it  to 
be  a  trick  spoke  for  destroying  the  horse.    Laokoon,  a  priest, 
thrust  a  spear  into  its  side,  and  at  the  hollow  sound  given  back 
pronounced   it  Greek  guile,  but  shortly   afterward   two  ser- 
pents came  out  of  the  sea  and  crushed  him  and  his  two  sous 
to  death.   Helen  walked  about  the  horse  imitating  the  voices 


Bf 


II 


i) 


PLATE    XXXIII 

The  Death  of  Aigisthos 

The  personages  of  this  tragic  episode  arc  identified 
bv  the  names  inscribed  beside  them.  Orestes,  the 
young  man  in  the  centre,  thrusts  his  sword  into  the 
body  of  Aigisthos  and  looks  back  half-fearfully,  half- 
defiantly  at  his  mother  Klytaimestra,  who  (in  a  panel 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  vase)  endeavours  to  wrest 
from  Talthybios  a  double-axe  with  which  to  defend 
her  paramour.  The  terrified  maiden  is  Chrysothemis, 
a  sister  of  Orestes,  who  is  but  little  known  in  legend. 
From  a  red-figured  pelike  of  the  style  of  Euthymides 
(earlv  fifth  centurv  B.C.),  in  Vienna  (Furtwangler- 
Reichhoid,   Griechiiche    {'dsenmaUrei,  No,    72).     See 

P-  lis- 


IP 

Si 


ffi 

HI 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


133 


of  the  Greek  leaders'  wives,  and  Antiklcs,  one  of  the  men  within 
it,  would  have  answered  had  not  Odysseus  stopped  his  mouth 
Nevertheless,  those  who  accepted  the  inscription  as  innocent 
prevailed,  and  the  horse  was  drawn  into  the  city  through  a 
breach  in  the  walls,  after  which  the  citizens  gave  themselves 
o\cr  to  revelry  until  they  were  overcome  by  the  heavy  sleep 
of  exhaustion.  Creeping  out  from  their  lair,  and  led  by  Sinon, 
a  Trojan  traitor,  the  Greeks  now  took  the  citadel  by  surprise, 
and  afterward  proceeded  to  ravage  the  city,  butchering  the 
sleeping  populace  like  helpless  cattle.  In  their  fury  they  dis- 
regarded all  the  restraints  of  religion.  Neoptolemos  slew  Priam, 
though  a  suppliant  at  the  altar  of  Zeus;  Aias,  the  son  of  Oileus, 
dragged  Kassandra  from  the  altar  of  Athene;  Odysseus  threw 
Hektor's  son  Astyanax  from  the  walls  "for  fear  this  babe  some 
day  might  raise  again  his  fallen  land.""  Together  the  Greeks 
set  fire  to  the  city  and  in  the  sight  of  its  flame  and  smoke 
sacrificed  Polyxena,  Priam's  youngest  daughter,  at  the  tomb 
of  Achilles.  Neoptolemos  carried  off  Andromache,  and  Odys- 
seus Hekabe,  as  prizes  of  war;  Menelaos  slew  Helen's  new  hus- 
band, Deiphobos,  and  conveyed  Helen  herself  to  his  ships. 
Now  that  the  object  of  the  war  was  attained,  the  Greeks  with 
the  utmost  joy  prepared  to  sail  away  to  their  distant  homes. 
But  alas!  They  had  not  counted  on  the  wrath  of  Athene,  who, 
roused  by  the  offence  of  the  son  of  Oileus  at  her  shrine,  almost 
implacably  condemned  them  to  "an  homecoming  that  striveth 
ever  more  and  cometh  to  no  home."'- 

The  Nostoi  ("Returns'  }.  —  In  addition  to  Homer's  Odys- 
sey, which  describes  the  devious  return  of  Odysseus,  there  were 
five  epic  books  of  "Returns"  written  by  Agias  of  Troi7en, 
and  dealing  with  the  wanderings  of  the  other  heroes,  especially 
those  of  the  two  sons  of  Atreus.  These  books  are  now  lost,  our 
knowledge  of  their  contents  being  derived  from  a  single  brief 
summary,  from  a  few  casual  references,  and  from  some  of  the 
dramas  of  the  fifth  century. 

Menelaos  and  Helen.  —  Naturally  one's  first  interest  is  to 


U 


Pif 


r  ' 


m 


,34         C-.RKEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTIIOI.OdY 

learn  the  fate  of  Menelaos  and  Helen.    As  the  fleet  was  about 
to  depart  f..r  Hellas,  Athene  provoked  a  quarrel  between  the 
sons  of  Atreus,  and  to  appease  the  >;oddess  A^amenmon  re- 
mained at  Troy  for  a  space,  while  Menelaos  sailed  away  with 
his   newly-recovered  wife,  the    first   point  of   Greek   soil   on 
which  they  set  foot  being  Sounion,  the  extremity  of  the  Attic 
peninsula.   After  a  delay  caused  by  the  death  of  the  pilot  they 
set  forth  again,  but  ere  they  could  round  the  point  of  the 
Peloponnesos  the  vessels  were  scattered    oy  a   storm.    With 
only  five  sail  left  Menelaos  made  the  island  of  Crete,  whence, 
vainly  attempting  to  steer  homeward,  he  was  driven  to  Cyprus, 
Phoinikia,  Aithiopia,  Libya,  and,  last  of  all,  Egypt.    Again 
head  winds  long  detained  him,  but  these  ceased  when,  heeding 
the  advice  of  Proteus,  he  sacrificed  to  the  gods  of  the  Nile, 
after  which  he  and  Helen  were  carried  swiftly  to  Sparta,  where 
they  lived  together  for  many  years,  until,  the  time  coming  at 
last  for  them  to  end  this  life,  they  were  given  immortality  in 
the  Islands  of  the  Blest,  by  virtue  of  their  divine  descent. 
Many  centuries  later  the  tomb  which  held  the  body  of  Helen 
was  shown  to  visitors  in  Sparta  as  one  of  the  important  sights 

of  the  city.  _ 

.•/^rtw<-w«on.— WhileAgamemnonwaspressingtowardHellas 

with  Kassandra  the  shade  of  Achilles  appeared  to  him,  and 
warning  him  of  an  unhappy  home-coming  endeavoured  to  turn 
him  aside  from  his  course.   During  his  absence  Aigisthos,  by  rea- 
son of  the  old  family  feud,  had  fomented  trouble  in  h.s  kingdom 
and  had  induced  Klytaimestra,  who  was  very  unlike  the  faith- 
ful Penelope,  to  live  with  him  in  adultery.     On  Agamemnon's 
return  to  Mykenai  (or  to  Argos)  "  Aigisthos,  with  the  conniv- 
ance of  Klytaimestra,  killed  Kassandra,  and  then,  inviting  Aga- 
memnon to  a  feast,  treacherously  murdered  him  too,  although 
in  another  form  of  the  narrative,  it  was  Agamemnon  who  fell 
first,  slain  in  the  bath  by  the  hand  of  his  wife,  ostensibly  to 
punish  him  for  the  sacrifice  of  Iphigeneia  ten  years  before. 
Aigisthos  and  Klytaimestra  now  reigned  as  king  and  queen. 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


135 


A  sure,  though  slow,  vengeance  was  advancing  upon  the 
wrongdoers.  Orestes,  the  youngest  son  of  the  murdered  king, 
was  secretly  conveyed  by  his  sister  Elektra  to  the  home  of 
Strophios,  a  friend,  who  brought  him  up  with  his  own  son 
Pylades,  and  through  long  years  of  companionship  the  two 
boys  became  devoted  friends,  whom  nothing  but  death  could 
part.  Knowing  his  mother's  unspeakable  crime,  Orestes  har- 
Iwured  revenge  in  his  heart,  and  urged  on  by  the  Delphic 
oracle  he  went  to  Mykenai,  where,  by  representing  himself  as 
a  stranger  bearing  tidings  of  the  death  of  Orestes,  he  was  ac- 
corded the  hospitality  of  the  palace.  Later  Pylades,  carrj'ing 
an  urn  which  he  alleged  to  contain  the  bones  of  Orestes,  was 
also  received,  and  having  thus  insinuated  themselves  into  the 
privacy  of  the  royal  home,  at  a  favourable  opportunity  they 
killed  both  Klytaimestra  and  Aigisthos. 

From  the  moment  in  which  Orestes  stained  his  hand  in  his 
mother's  blood  he  was  "hunted  by  shapes  of  pain"  and  through 
Hellas  was  "lashed  like  a  burning  wheel,"  "  for  the  avenging 
Furies  of  his  mother  were  upon  him.  Pursued  by  them  to 
Athens,  he  was  tried  on  Areopagos  and  acquitted,  after  which, 
appealing  to  the  oracle,  he  was  told  that  to  remove  his  blood- 
guiltiness  he  must  first  carry  away  from  the  land  of  the  Tauroi 
the  sacred  image  of  Artemis  which  had  fallen  from  heaven. 
Going  thither  with  Pylades,  he  found  that  the  priestess  of  the 
goddess  was  his  own  sister  Iphigeneia,  and  after  succeeding,  by 
means  of  a  cunning  plot,  in  evading  the  watchful  Taurians, 
he  sailed  away  with  the  image  and  his  sister,  some  say,  to 
Rhodes,  where  he  was  at  last  given  rest  from  the  Furies. 

The  Other  Heroes  {except  Odysseus).  —  On  leaving  Troy, 
Neoptolemos  went  across  Thrace  and  conquered  the  country 
of  the  Molossians,  but  later  he  seized  Hermione,  the  wife  of 
Orestes,  and  for  this  act  was  killed  by  her  husband  at  Delphoi. 
The  lesser  Aias,  for  his  impiety  against  Athene,  was  cast  up 
on  the  coast  of  Euboia  and  would  have  been  saved  had  he  not 
boasted  of  his  ability  to  rescue  himself  without  the  aid  of  the 


;i 


136         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOL(X;V 

gods.  After  escaping  many  dangers,  Diomcdes  reached  his 
home  in  Argos,  but,  finding  that  his  wife  was  living  in  adul- 
tery, he  immediately  departed  for  Aitolia.  When  making  an 
attempt,  some  lime  afterward,  to  return  to  his  home,  he  was 
shipwrecked  on  the  shores  of  Italy,  and,  being  saved,  lived 
there  until  his  death.  Demophon,  the  son  of  Theseus,  on  his 
way  back  to  .\thens  visited  the  Bisaltian  Thracians  and  married 
Phyllis,  a  princess  of  the  land.  When  he  expressed  to  his  wife 
a  wish  to  return  to  his  native  country,  she  gave  him  a  chest 
which  he  was  not  to  open  until  he  should  despair  of  seeing  her 
again,  but  once  out  of  her  sight  he  sailed  to  Cyprus  instead  of 
Athens,  and  there  took  up  his  permanent  abode.  Phyllis  at 
last,  utterly  weary  of  waiting  longer,  invoked  a  curse  on  him 
and  killed  herself.  At  about  the  same  time  Demophon  opened 
the  chest,  but  something  he  saw  within  it  inspired  him  with 
fear,  and  hastily  mounting  to  ride  away  he  was  thrown  on 
the  point  of  his  sword  by  the  fall  of  his  horse  and  instantly 
killed. 

The  Odyssey.  —  In  order  to  recount  the  adventures  of  the 
homeward  journey  of  Odysseus  in  their  proper  sequence  one 
must  begin  with  the  hero's  own  narrative  in  the  middle  of  the 
Odyssey  and  later  return  to  the  first  and  succeeding  parts. 

Books  IX-XII.  —  A  fair  wind  bore  Odysseus  from  Ilion  to 
Ismaros,  which  he  sacked,  and  then  held  his  course  for  Cape 
Malea,  although,  before  he  could  round  it,  Zeus  swept  him 
southward  past  Kythcra  to  the  land  of  the  Lotos-Eaters, 
where  men  ate  of  the  spicy  bloom  of  the  lotus  and  became  for- 
ever oblivious  of  their  old  home.  Apprehensive  lest  his  com- 
panions, too,  be  minded 

"In  the  hollow  Lotos-land  to  live  and  lie  reclined 
On  the  hills  like  gods  together,  careless  of  mankind,"  " 

Odysseus  led  them  to  the  ships  against  their  will  and  sailed 
to  the  country  of  the  Kyklopes,  a  race  of  giants  each  with  a 
single  eye  in  the  middle  of  his  forehead.    One  of  them.  Poly- 


J» 


PLATE   XXXIV 

Odysseus  Slayinc;  the  Suitors 

The  groups  on  either  side  of  the  central  ornament 
constitute  a  single  scene.  Odysseus,  standing  with 
drawn  bow  in  front  of  two  frightened  maid-servants, 
is  about  to  shoot  at  the  suitors  opposite  him.  One  or 
them,  already  pierced  by  an  arrow,  is  attempting  to 
escape  by  climbing  over  a  couch  on  which  a  com- 
panion is  frantically  defending  himself  against  the 
missiles  by  means  of  a  garment  hung  over  his  arm  ;  a 
third  suitor,  crouching  on  the  floor,  holds  a  table  be- 
fore him  as  though  it  were  a  shield.  From  a  red- 
figured  skyphos  of  the  first  part  of  the  fifth  centurv  B.C., 
in  Berlin  (Furtwiinglcr-Reichhold,  Griechischi  Vasen- 
malcrci^  No.  1 38).      See  p.   1 39. 


I  i 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


137 


phemos  by  name,  entrapped  Odysseus  in  his  cave,  but  the  cun- 
ning man  of  Ithake  put  out  his  eye  and  escaped  with  a  remnant 
of  his  men.  He  now  made  for  the  island  ot  Aiolos,  the  master 
of  the  winds,  and  as  he  set  sail  thence  after  a  sojourn  of  many 
days,  his  host  gave  him  a  bag  in  which  were  enclosed  all  the 
winds  except  that  one  which  would  speed  him  on  his  way  to 
Ithake.  His  companions,  however,  suspecting  that  some  treas- 
ures were  concealed  in  the  bag,  opened  it  while  their  leader 
slept,  and  the  winds,  ru?h'ng  forth,  beat  the  vessel  back  to  the 
island  which  they  had  just  left,  but  where  Aiolos  refused  them 
further  hospitality  and  sent  them  away  from  his  coasts. 
They  came  next  to  the  land  of  the  cruel  Laistrygonians,  who 
destroyed  all  of  their  ships  but  one,  on  which  they  had  the  good 
fortune  to  reach  the  island  of  the  sorceress-goddess  Kirke,  a 
daughter  of  Helios.  By  means  of  a  charm  she  changed  Odys- 
seus's  men  into  swine,  but  the  hero  himself  she  took  as  her 
lover  into  her  home.  Nevertheless,  the  call  of  home  was  upon 
him,  and  he  could  endure  the  sweet  bondage  for  no  longer 
than  a  year,  so  that  at  length  he  persuaded  Kirke  to  aid  him 
in  an  attempt  to  return  :o  Ithake.  As  a  first  step  she  coun- 
selled him  to  make  the  descent  to  Hades,  where  he  saw  the 
shades  of  his  mother  and  of  many  of  the  heroes,  and  learned 
from  Teiresias,  the  Theban  seer,  the  route  which  he  should 
pursue  to  reach  his  home.  Launching  his  ship  once  more,  he 
sailed  safely  past  the  Sirens,  having  his  men  bind  him  tightly 
to  the  mast  and  himself  stopping  their  ears  with  wax.  On 
he  pressed  through  the  Clashing  Rocks,  and  past  Skylla  and 
Charybdis,  to  the  island  of  Thrinakia,  where  further  disaster 
befell  him,  for  his  men,  unable  to  be  restrained,  slew  some  of 
the  sacred  cattle  of  the  Sun  and  caused  a  storm  to  break  upon 
their  ship  so  that  all  were  lost  save  Odysseus  himself.  During 
ten  days  he  was  tossed  about  on  a  raft  and  then  left  by  the 
waves  on  the  shore  of  the  island  of  the  goddess  Kalypso,  with 
whom  he  lived  for  the  space  of  eight  years. 

Books  I-VIII.  —  At  the  end  of  this  time  Zeus  hearkened  to 


tif 


138 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


the  request  of  Athene  and  gave  permission  for  Odysseus  to  be 
restored  to  his  native  soil.  In  the  meantime,  Athene,  in  the 
guise  of  Mentor,  had  visited  Telcmachos,  Odysseus's  son,  in 
Ithake,  and  had  bidden  him  send  his  mother's  many  wooers  to 
their  homes  and  to  go  in  search  of  his  father;  but  the  suitors 
would  not  listen  to  the  youth's  words,  even  though  they  were 
accompanied  by  a  prophetic  warning  of  a  dreadful  doom  that 
awaited  them  should  they  persist  in  their  course.  Unknown 
to  them,  Telcmachos  went  to  Nestor  in  Pylos,  and  thence  to 
the  court  of  Menelaos  and  Helen  in  Sparta,  and  although  the 
only  tidings  which  he  could  glean  of  his  father  were  vague  and 
far  from  recent,  nevertheless,  they  encouraged  him  to  hope. 

Through  Hermes  Zeus  commanded  Kalypso  to  release  Odys- 
seus. Reluctantly  she  helped  him  build  a  raft  and  after  twelve 
days  of  labour  on  it  saw  him  depart  from  her  island.  Twenty 
day^s  later  he  was  washed  up  on  the  shore  of  Scheria,  the 
island-country  of  the  Phaiakians,  whose  king  was  Alkinoos. 
The  princess  Nausikaa  chanced  to  find  him  in  his  distress  and 
led  him  to  the  palace,  where  he  told  the  long  story  of  his  still 
longer  wanderings,  and  received  from  the  king  the  promise  of 
a  safe  convoy  to  Ithake. 

Books  XIII-XXIV.  —  The  next  day  a  magic  ship  of  the 
Phaiakians  bore  Odysseus  away  and  left  him  on  the  shore  of 
his  home-land  in  a  deep  sleep,  but  when  he  awoke,  he  was 
unable  to  recognize  the  place  until  Athene  cleared  his  bewil- 
dered vision.  Disguising  himself  as  a  beggar  in  obedience  to 
her  word,  he  made  his  way  to  the  hut  of  the  swineherd  Eu- 
maios  who  had  remained  loyal  to  his  long  absent  master,  and 
without  revealing  his  identity,  he  learned  from  his  old  servant 
many  things  concerning  the  suitors.  Just  at  this  time  Tele- 
machos  chanced  to  return  from  Sparta,  safely  eluding  an  am- 
buscade prepared  for  him  by  his  enemies,  and  on  landing 
he  went  to  the  hut  of  Eumaios  and  sent  the  swineherd  to  the 
palace  with  a  message  for  his  mother.  In  the  interval  he  and 
Odysseus  were  left  alone  together,  and  at  this  supreme  moment 


THE  TALE  OF  TROY 


1- 


139 


Athene  brought  about  a  recognition  of  father  and  son,  who 
jointly  plotted  the  destruction  of  the  importunate  wooers. 

On  the  following  day  Odysseus  entered  the  palace.  Though 
still  disguised,  he  was  recognized  by  his  old  dog  Argos,  which 
died  of  sheer  delight;  yet  of  all  the  people  in  the  palace,  includ- 
ing even  Penelope,  only  Eur>'kleia,  his  nurse,  knew  him.  As 
it  happened,  it  was  on  that  very  day  that  Penelope  announced 
to  her  suitors  that  when  the  next  sun  had  risen  she  would 
definitely  settle  the  question  which  had  brought  them  all  to 
Ithake.  During  all  the  months  of  their  wooing  she  had  put 
them  off  with  the  promise  that  as  soon  as  she  should  com- 
plete a  fabric  then  on  her  loom  she  would  make  her  selection 
from  among  them;  but  the  day  of  the  choice  never  came,  for 
each  night,  it  was  said,  she  unravelled  what  she  had  woven  the 
day  before.  At  last,  however,  she  now  declared  that  she 
would  ac  cpt  that  man  who  with  Odysseus's  bow  could  send 
an  arrow  through  the  holes  of  twelve  axe-blades  arranged  in 
a  row,  but  when  the  trial  of  strength  and  skill  came,  not  one 
of  the  suitors  was  able  even  to  bend  the  bow.  Though  much 
derided,  Odysseus  then  stepped  forward  and  to  the  consterna- 
tion of  all  sent  the  arrow  through  the  appointed  mark,  after 
which,  turning  quickly  on  the  suitors,  he  shot  them  one  by 
one.  Yet  so  changed  was  he  through  the  many  hardships 
which  he  had  suffered  as  well  as  through  the  mere  lapse  of 
years  that  it  was  long  before  Penelope  could  believe  he  was 
really  her  own  Odysseus.  At  length  convinced,  she  welcomed 
him  back  to  the  home  and  to  the  place  which  she  had  kept 
sacred  for  him  in  her  affection,  and  thenceforward  they  lived 
together  at  Ithake,  as  they  had  lived  before,  happy  in  their 
mutual  love,  and  save  for  an  unsuccessful  attack  of  the  dead 
suitors'  friends  at  peace  with  all  mankind. 

The  Telegonia}''  —  The  later  adventures  of  Odysseus  and 
his  sons  arc  detailed  in  the  sixth  century  epic,  the  Telegonia, 
the  work  of  Eugammon  of  Kyrene,  which  completed  the 
Trojan  cycle  of  myths. 


;;:; 


rl 


# 


140         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

After  the  burial  of  the  suitors  by  their  kinsmen,  Odysseus 
sailed  across  to  Elis  to  inspect  his  herds.  Returning  to  Ithake 
for  a  brief  time  only,  he  went  to  the  land  of  the  Thesprotians 
and  wedded  their  queen  Kallidike,  for,  some  allege,  he  had  dis- 
missed Penelope  on  account  of  her  wavering  affections.  On 
the  death  of  Kallidike  their  son  took  the  crown  of  Thesprotia, 
and  Odysseus  went  back  to  Ithake  about  the  same  time  that 
Tclcgonos,  the  son  whom  Kirkc  had  borne  to  him,  set  out  to 
fi:  '  his  father.  Chancing  to  land  on  Ithake,  he  proceeded  to 
plunder  the  country,  and,  defying  a  band  of  Ithakans  whom 
Odysseus  led  against  him,  he  killed  his  father  in  the  conflict, 
in  utter  ignorance  of  what  he  was  doing,  but  when  the  import 
of  his  act  was  made  known  to  him,  accompanied  by  Penelope 
and  Telemachos,  he  bore  the  body  of  Odysseus  back  to  Kirke. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  AFTERWORLD 

cr*HE  Greek  View  of  the  Soul  and  of  Death.  —  To  compre- 
•*  hend,  even  in  part,  the  Greek  stories  of  the  afterworld  one 
must  Iceep  before  him  the  fact  that  they  are  all  based  on  the 
conception  that  the  soul  has  a  life  apart  from  the  body.  This 
the  Greeks  held  to  be  as  certain  as  anything  could  be  in  the 
realm  of  the  inscrutable,  and  all  the  phenomena  of  life  seemed 
to  point  to  its  truth.  When,  however,  they  came  to  state  their 
belief  as  to  what  the  soul  really  was,  they  frankly  argued  from 
probability.  The  soul  could  not  well  be  very  unlike  the  living 
man;  therefore,  it  was  his  shade,  or  airy  double.  This  shade 
either  comprised  or  was  identical  with  all  that  was  character- 
istic of  the  man  —  his  personality,  we  say  —  for  this  is  what 
vanished  at  death,  while  the  inert  body  remained.  Moreover, 
like  the  man  himself,  the  shade  was  able  to  think,  feel  the  drive 
of  desire,  and  move  about  from  place  to  place.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  soul  could  not  be  very  like  the  man,  for  the  condi- 
tions of  concrete  existence  could  not  surround  it,  and,  more- 
over, it  must  be  of  a  very  tenuous  substance,  for  it  seemed  to 
leave  the  body  through  a  wound  or  with  the  passing  of  the 
invisible  breath,  and  untrammelled  by  the  body  it  was  free  to 
go  about,  as  on  wings,  whithersoever  it  would,  like  the  birds  of 
heaven.  Yet  all  its  thoughts  and  desires  were  faint  and  futile, 
for  it  utterly  lacked  the  material  means  of  gratifying  them,  so 
that  the  existence  of  the  disembodied  soul  was  joyless  and  the 
end  of  all  that  men  esteem  worth  while.  The  words  of  Hekabe 
to  Andromache  well  sum  up  the  attitude  of  the  Greek  toward 
death: 


'  i 


142 


GREEK.  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

'Death  cannot  be  what  life  is,  Child,  the  cup 


Of  Death  is  empty,  and  Life  hath  always  hope 


"  1 


But  the  Greeks  stranjicly  contradicted  themselves.  Though 
affirming  llie  immateriality  of  souls,  they  were  unable  to 
conceive  of  their  conscious  existence  without  at  least  some  of 
the  accessories  of  the  material.  After  death  a  man's  shade  pur- 
sued the  same  occupations  which  it  had  followed  in  life  and 
cherished  the  same  characteristic  passions.  Orion  still  hunted 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  woodland;  Aias  still  harboured  his  anger 
against  Achilles;  Aiakos  and  Rhadamanthys  still  sat  on  the 
tribunals  of  judgement;  Teiresias  still  dispensed  his  prophecies. 
This  bondage  to  the  material  extended  even  to  the  punish- 
ments of  the  arcn-criminals:  Lxion  was  bound  to  a  real  wheel, 
and  Sisyphos  struggled  with  a  real  stone. 

When  the  Greeks  came  to  localize  the  abode  of  the  assembled 
shades,  they  not  unnaturally,  like  many  other  peoples,  believed 
it  to  be  under  the  earth,  an  idea  which  probably  sprang  from 
the  primitive  custom  of  burial;  and  after  the  belief  had  once 
been  established,  it  was  easy  to  think  of  those  souls  that  had 
been  banished  from  their  bodies  by  cremation  as  going  to  the 
same  place.  In  this  underworld  were  gathered  the  souls  of  all 
except  a  special  few,  souls  that  were  thenceforth  like  to 

"...  pale  flocks  fallen  as  leaves. 
Folds  of  dead  people,  and  alien  from  the  sun."  * 

It  was  a  spacious  democratic  realm  in  which  they  abode,  a 
realm  in  which  there  was  no  fear  of  overcrowding.  Its  bound- 
aries were  impassable,  and  rarely  did  a  soul  return  from  it 
to  the  upper  light,  even  for  a  brief  season.  It  was  a  kingdom 
organized  like  a  kingdom  of  earth;  Hades  and  Persephone  sat 
on  its  two  thrones  as  king  and  queen;  and  it  had  its  several 
benches  of  judges.  Hermes  mustered  the  immigrants  bound 
for  its  shores,  and  Charon,  the  grim,  grey  ferryman,  trans- 
ported them  at  the  established  tariff  of  an  obol  a  head,''  while 
Kerberos,''  the  three-headed  hound,  stood  guard  at  its  main 


1 1 


iU 


i'^f; 


PLATK   XXXV 

Charon 

This  design  is  sketched  with  coarse  yellowish  lines 
of  glaze  on  a  white  ba  kground.  Charon,  a  tall  and 
rather  ungainly  beardeu  man  of  a  not  unkindly  counte- 
nance, stands  at  the  stern  of  his  boat  and  looks  straight 
before  him  at  a  tiny  winged  soul  descending  toward 
him  from  the  right.  He  is  clad  in  a  short,  belted 
chiton  without  sleeves,  and  has  his  petasos  hanging  by 
a  cord  at  the  back  of  his  head.  He  leans,  with  his 
left  hand  on  a  long  pole,  the  lower  end  of  which  rests 
in  the  water,  while  with  his  right  hand  he  steadies 
himself  on  the  up-curving  stern  of  his  boat,  behind 
which  a  clump  of  reeds  is  growing.  From  a  white 
teiythos  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  in  Karlsruhe  (A. 
Fairbanks,  Athenian  Jf'hite  Ltkythoi,  ii,  Plate  XIV,  Fig. 
4).     See  pp.  89-90. 


i '  i 


'1 

hi 


,: 

J 

HI 

l-H 

\   \\ 

K  1! 

t  '  ■ 

t  :  ■ 

?      if 
!       M 


ii 

il 

g 

I 


i 


THE  AFTERWORLD 


«43 


entrance.  Its  area  was  delimited  into  various  precincts  deter- 
mined by  natural  boundaries,  and  its  population  was  divided 
into  classes,  the  ordinary  rank  and  file  of  the  departed  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  sinners  extraordinary  on  the  other.  The 
lower  realm  was  indeed  a  world  in  itself. 

Entrances  to,  and  Rivers  of,  the  Undcruorld. — Although  some 
were  sceptical  enough  to  say  that  "no  roads  lead  under- 
g.ound,"'^  yet  the  average  Greek  entertained  no  other  opinion 
than  that  such  paths  did  exist.  In  a  number  of  places  the  in- 
habitants pointed  to  local  caves  whence  the  ways  ran  down- 
ward; for  instance,  at  Tainaron  in  Lakonia,  at  Troizen  in 
Argolis,  at  Ephyra  in  Thesprotia,  and  at  Heraklcia  in  Pontos, 
while  Hcrmione  in  Argolis  offered  so  short  a  route  that  those 
who  travelled  along  it  were  exempted  from  the  payment  of  the 
usual  obol.  Often  white  rocks  by  the  banks  of  streams  were 
held  to  mark  the  proximity  of  the  lower  world,  or,  again,  the 
channels  through  which  springs  or  streams  disappeared  be- 
neath the  ground  passed  as  entrances  to  Hades.  Indeed,  it 
seems  probable  that  the  Styx  and  the  Acheron,  the  oldest  of 
the  rivers  of  Hades,  were  originally  just  such  streams.  In 
time  the  imagination  of  the  Greeks  gave  them  almost  wholly 
an  infernal  existence  and  developed  from  them  three  others 
—  Kokytos,  Pyriphlegethon,  and  Lethe.  The  relations  of  all 
these  to  one  another,  that  is,  whether  they  were  main  streams 
or  tributaries,  were  by  no  means  uniform;  nevertheless,  each 
had  its  own  distinct  significance  in  literature:  the  Styx  was 
the  river  of  hate;  Acheron,  with  its  chill,  stagnant  water,  the 
river  of  mourning;  Kokytos,  the  river  of  lamentation;  Lethe, 
the  river  of  forgetfulness;  and  Pyriphlegethon,  the  river  of 
flame. 

The  Judges.  —  The  better  and  earlier  tradition  recognizes 
three  judges  in  Hades  —  Aiakos,  king  of  Aigina,  and  Rhada- 
manthys  and  Minos,  the  sons  of  Zeus  and  Europe;  the  later 
and  Attic  tradition  adds  Triptolemos  as  a  fourth.  The  first 
three  were  endowed  with  distinct  individualities.     Aiakos,  by 


it  f  1 


llj 


1;   ,3:-. 


■tif' 


144 


GREEK   AND   ROMAN   M\THOLOr^' 


virtue  of  his  being  the  "wisest  in  deed  and  in  counsel"  among 
mortals,  was  given  the  principal  place  among  the  judges,  and 
to  his  care,  moreover,  were  entrusted  the  keys  of  Hades'  house. 
To  him  the  souls  from  Europe  came  to  be  judged,  while  his 
brother  Rhadamanthys,  seated  at  the  crossways  where  one  road 
led  to  the  Happy  Isles  and  the  other  to  Tartaros,  judged  the 
souls  from  Asia.  Souls  whose  origin  was  in  doubt  appeared 
before  Minos,  who,  wielding  a  golden  sceptre,  exercised  both 
civil  and  judicial  power,  as  he  had  done  on  earth. 

The  Punishments  of  Hades.  —  Only  that  class  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Hades  whom  we  have  called  the  sinners  extraordinary 
suffered  special  punishments.  Their  sins  had  been  against  the 
gods.  For  disclosing  to  men  the  counsel  of  Zeus  and  for  his 
horrible  banquet  Tantalos  was  condemned  to  stand  in  a  pool 
that  ever  receded  from  his  thirsty  lips,  while  near  him  hung 
branches  laden  with  fruit  that  always  sprang  away  from  his 
hungry  grasp,  and  over  his  head  was  poised  a  stone  that  con- 
tinually threatened  to  fall  but  never  did.  Tityos  had  in  his 
lifetime  attempted  violence  on  Leto,  and  for  this,  his  huge  body 
was  stretched  out  supine  on  the  soil  of  Hades  and  two  vultures 
never  ceased  gnawing  at  his  vitals.  Ixion  forgot  his  debt  of 
gratitude  to  Zeus  and  made  a  foul  attack  on  Hera,  so  that  in 
Hades  he  was  lashed  to  a  wheel  and  whirled  around  forever, 
his  fate  being  a  perpetual  warning  to  ingrates.  For  their 
sacrilegious  attempt  to  scale  heaven  by  piling  up  mountains 
into  a  grand  staircase  Otos  and  Ephialtes  were  bound  by  ser- 
pents to  two  great  columns.  Of  the  punishments  of  Sisyphos 
and  of  the  daughters  of  Danaos  enough  has  already  been  said. 

I'isits  of  the  Living  to  Hades.  —  Consistent  with  the  belief 
in  roads  leading  to  the  lower  world  is  the  tradition  that  cer- 
tain human  beings  of  almost  divinely  rare  endowments,  or 
through  some  interposition  of  the  gods,  had  been  able  to 
follow  these  paths  to  their  end  and  again  to  see  the  light  of 
day.  Protesilaos  returned  to  life  for  a  few  short  hours  only, 
but  Alkestis  and  Glaakos,  the  son  of  Minos,  for  many  years. 


TOE  AFTERWORLD 


I4S 


Herakles  descended  by  Tainaron  and  came  back  by  Troizen, 
bringing  Kerberos  with  him,  and  Theseus  accompanied  Pci- 
rithoos  below  in  his  foolhardy  mission  to  rob  Hades  of  Per- 
sephone, although  his  safe  return  was  due  only  to  the  superior 
strength  of  Herakles.  The  most  famous  descents  were  those 
of  Odysseus  and  Orpheus,  that  of  the  former  furnishing  in- 
spiration to  \'ergil  and  Dante  in  their  treatment  of  similar 
themes,  and  to  those  modern  poets  who  have  depicted  Christ 
in  Hades. 

At  the  word  of  Kirke  Odysseus  approached  the  underworld 
by  way  of  the  land  of  the  Kimmerians,  a  people  who  dwelt 
amid  clouds  and  gloom  and  never  looked  upon  the  face  of  the 
sun.  Here  he  dug  a  trench  and  poured  into  it  the  blood  of 
black  victims,  and  soon  the  gibbering  ghosts  began  to  gather 
about  the  trench,  clamouring  for  the  blood,  which,  for  a  time, 
Odysseus  would  not  permit  them  to  touch.  First  there  appeared 
to  him  the  restless  shade  of  his  former  shipmate  Elpenor,  beg- 
ging him  to  accomplish  the  due  rites  over  his  unburicd  body, 
and  at  length  there  c  e  the  ghost  of  Teiresias,  the  blind  seer 
of  Thebes.  When  Odysseus  allowed  him  and  the  other  shades  to 
taste  of  the  blood,  memories  of  the  upper  world  and  the  power 
of  speech  returned  to  them,  and  from  Teiresias  he  learned 
the  vicissitudes  that  were  to  mark  the  remainder  of  his  life 
down  to  the  day  of  his  death.  Then  he  saw  his  mother  Anti- 
kleia,  who,  though  now  merely  a  phantom,  had  not  lost  the 
tenderness  of  a  mother  for  him,  recounting  to  him  what  had 
happened  in  Ithake  during  his  long  absence,  just  those  things 
that  only  a  mother  thinks  of  telling,  the  little  happenings  about 
the  home  that  make  or  mar  the  life  within  it.  After  her  he 
saw  a  host  of  the  famous  wives  and  mothers  of  the  gods  and 
heroes,  both  the  cnaste  and  the  unchaste,  and  when  the 
shades  of  the  women  folk  were  scattered  by  Persephone,  the 
ghosts  of  the  men  crowded  about,  and  drinking  of  the  blood 
told  Odysseus,  one  by  one,  the  sorry  tales  of  their  last  days, 
and  with  grief  or  delight  listened  to  the  tidings  which  he  had 


"  I 


m 


146 


C.RKEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


brought  them  of  the  kinsfolk  whom  they  had  left  behind. 
First  came  Agamemnon,  surrounded  by  the  shades  of  those 
who  had  died  with  him  at  Aigistlios's  fatal  banquet;  and  then 

Achilles,  proud  to  learn  of  the 
glor\'  of  N'eoptolemos  among 
the  living;  Aias,  still  brooding 
over  his  imagined  dishonour; 
Minos,    wielding    his    golden 
sceptre  and  dealing  out  dooms 
to  the  dead;  and  Orion,  hunt- 
ing across  the  asphodel  mead- 
ows the  ghosts  of  the  animals 
which  he  had  slain  in  life.  Last 
of  all  Odysseus  beheld  the  great 
sufferers  of  Hades, — Tantalos, 
Tityos,  Sisyphos,  Ixion,*  and 
the  rest,  and  would  have  seen 
more  of  the  renowned  heroes 
had  not  the  increasing  throng 
and  clamour  of  the  shades  filled 
his  breast  with  fear  and  caused 
him  to  fly  to  his  ship  and  sail 
awa)'  down  the  stream  of  Okc- 
anos.   From  the  account  of  this 
visit  of  Odysseus  to  Hades,  as 
it  stands  in  the  Odyssey  itself, 
more  can  be  learned  of  the  pre- 
vailing  Greek   conception   of 
the  state  of  the  dead  than  from 
any  other  single  source. 
The  story  of  the  descent  of  Orpheus  is  of  a  very  different 
character.     Eurydike,  the  young  wife  of  Orpheus,  the  sweet 
singer  of  Thrace,'  was  bitten  by  a  serpent,  and,  dying,  her 
soul  passed  within  the  pale  of  Hades'  realm.   Orpheus  resolved 
to  win  her  back,  and  as  he  entered  the  abode  of  the  shades  with 


Fic.  6.    The  Death  of  Aias  (Ajax) 

This  dcsipi  depicts  an  unusual  variant 
of  tlic  story  that  tells  of  the  death  of  Aias, 
the  son  of  Telanion.  Aias,  brocidin);  over 
his  defeat  by  Odysseus  in  the  contest  for 
the  anus  of  Achilles,  has  tried  in  vain  to 
kill  himself.  Athene  now  appears  before 
him  and  points  out  to  him  a  vulnerable 
spot  in  which  to  plunpe  his  sword.  Krom 
an  incised  desi,i.'n  on  an  Etruscan  bronze 
mirnjr  '>f  the  tliird  century  B.C.,  now  in  the 
Museum  of  I'inc  Arts,  Boston. 


m 


*  'I 


PLATE   XXXVI 

IxioN  ON  THE  Wheel 

Ixion  is  bound  by  several  thongs  to  an  eight-spoked 
wheel.  His  "  running  "  attitude  and  the  wings  on 
the  wheel,  after  the  manner  of  archaic  art  denote 
rapid  revolution.  The  flower  beside  Ixion's  right  foot 
serves  only  to  f.!!  up  the  space  between  the  spokes. 
From  an  Etruscan  bronze  mirror  of  the  fourth  or  third 
century  r.c,  in  the  British  Museum  (A.  B.  Cook, 
Zeusy  i,  Plate  XVII).     See  p.  144. 


^;ii 


THE  AFTERWORLD 


147 


a  song  on  his  lips,  "the  pallid  souls  burst  into  weeping,  Tanta- 
los  ceased  to  pursue  the  retreating  water,  Ixion  and  his  wheel 
stood  still,  the  vultures  abandoned  their  torment  of  Tityos, 
the  daughters  of  Danaos  deserted  their  jars,  and  Sisyphos  sat 
down  upon  the  rock.  Down  the  cheeks  of  the  Erinyes  flowed 
moist  tears,  and  the  king  and  queen  of  Tartaros  yielded  to  his 
plea"  «  that  they  set  his  dear  wife  free.  One  condition,  how- 
ever, was  imposed,  that  as  Eurydike  followed  her  husband  on 
the  way  out,  he  was  on  no  account  to  turn  around  and  look 
upon  her;  but,  in  the  ecstasy  of  his  joy  at  his  recovery  of  her, 
he  violated  the  condition,  and  Eurydike  was  recalled  to  Hades, 
never  more  to  return  to  earth. 

Elysion,  The  Islands  of  the  Blest.  —  The  domain  of  Hades 
was  not,  however,  the  only  abode  of  those  who  had  come 
to  the  end  of  this  life,  for  there  was,  besides  this,  a  land  of 
eternal   happiness  with  broad  flowery  fields   known  now  as 
Elysion,  and  now  as  the  Islands  of  the  Blest.    The  Greeks 
naturally  thought  of  this  land  as  lying  in  the  distant  west, 
some  even  identifying  it  with  the  island  of  the  Phaiakians, 
or  again  with  Leuke  ("White  Isle")  at  the  western  end  of 
the  Euxine.    According  to  Pindar,  only  those  mortals  were 
translated  thither  who  had  come  through  a  triple  test  in  life 
and  had  remained  good  and  brave  and  true,  although  from 
other  literary  sources  one  gathers   that  the  common  belief 
was  that  the  land  was  reserved  for  those   in  whose   veins 
flowed  the  blood  of  the  gods.    It  was  indeed  for  this  reason 
alone,  and  not   for    any  special  piety,  that  Menelaos  and 
Helen  were  admitted  into  its  bliss,  though  Peleus,  Achilles, 
Kadmos,  and  many  others  of  the  heroes  were  there  who  by 
virtue  of  passing  either  test  could  have  entered  this  land, 
whose  charm  can  be  best  conveyed  by  the  words  of  Proteus 
to   Menelaos:   "But  thou,  Menelaus,  son  of  Zeus,  art  not 
ordained  to  die  and  meet  thy  fate  in  Argos,  the  pasture- 
land  of  horses,  but  the  deathless  gods  will  convey  thee  to  the 

Elysian  plain  and  the  world's  end,  where  is  Rhadamanthys 
I  — 14 


H     ■ 


148         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

(if  the  fair  hair,  where  life  is  easiest  for  men.  No  snow  is 
there,  nor  yet  great  storm,  nor  any  rain;  but  always  Ocean 
sendeth  forth  the  breeze  of  the  shrill  west  to  blow  cool  on 
men :  yea,  for  thou  hast  Helen  to  wife,  and  thereby  they  deem 
thee  to  be  the  son  of  Zeus."  ' 


PART  II 
THE   GREEK   GODS 


if. 


I      1 1- 


ii 


III 


iN 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  GREATER  GODS  — ZEUS  AND  HERA 

ALMOST  all  the  gods  who  are  C(  nsidered  in  this  and  the 
next  few  chapters  arc  univi  ally  regarded  as  the  greater 
personages  of  the  Greek  pantheon,  although  a  few  who  are 
confessedly  not  of  this  rank  have  been  given  a  place  here 
because  of  the  difficulty  and  impropriety  of  dealing  with 
them  apart  from  their  more  distinguished  fellows  with  whom 
they  are  inseparably  associated.  For  instance,  Hekate  is  the 
natural  companion  of  Artemis,  Eros  of  Aphrodite,  and  Per- 
sephone and  Hades  of  Demrter.  We  have  obtained  our  list 
of  greater  gods  by  combining  the  Homeric,  Athenian,  and 
Olympian  systems,  though  from  the  last  named  we  have 
omitted  Kronos,  Rhea,  Alpheios,  and  the  Charites. 

ZEUS 

Between  the  Zeus  of  the  historical  period  and  the  Zeus  of 
the  primitive  Greeks  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed.'  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, entirely  unspanned,  for  the  diligent  research  of  many 
years  has  succeeded  in  throwing  over  it  bridges  of  inference 
and  deduction,  which,  while  slender,  afford  the  hope  that  they 
may  serve  as  the  foundations  for  stronger  structures  in  the 
future.  Any  statements  that  we  may  make,  therefore,  in 
reference  to  this  void  we  give  with  reserve,  even  though  we 
may  not  preface  each  individual  statement  with  a  specific 
word  of  caution.  It  must  be  remembered  that  our  present 
endeavour  is  to  trace  the  transformation  of  the  Zeus,  not  of 
a  single  locality,  but  of  all  Hellenic  localities,  to  sketch  the 


U 


isk. 


is: 


(IRKLK   AND   ROMAN   MVTIIOIXX^V 


lincamints,  as  it  wctc,  <if  a  jrrcat  c«)mpi)>-itf  Zius  who  would  be 
rccoK'nizcJ  at  first  glance  by  all  Hfllcncs  as  the  chief  god  of 
their  cults  and  myths. 

Thr  Original  Significance  of  Z«-!(J.  —  Zeus  was  the  great 
aboriginal  god  not  only  of  all  the  Hellenic  stocks,  but  of  the 
so-called  Indo-European  race,  nor  does  the  predominating  im- 
portance of  his  celestial  functions  in  ritual,  myth,  and  epithet 
permit  of  any  other  inference  than  that  he  was  a  personifica- 
tion of  the  bright  sky.*  The  coincidence  of  these  activities 
with  those  of  the  great  sky-god  of  cognate  name  of  other  Indo 
European  peoples  points  in  the  same  direction,  and,  more- 
over, his  name  alone  is  a  proof  of  his  origin,  for  it  is  a  develop- 
ment of  the  base  deya,  "to  shine,"  probably  passing  through 
the  stages  of  pronunciation  —  if  not  of  orthography  — 
*^ii)f<i,  *Aivw,  *Ai€i>t.  Zew,  while  in  the  invocation  Zev -rrdrep 
("Father  Zeus")  we  can  readily  perceive  a  parallel  to  the 
Latin  luppiler  (Diespitcr),  and  in  the  Indian  Rig  Veda  the 
phrase  dyati  pitar  ("Father  Sky")  occurs  in  several  pas- 
sages. In  most  instances  the  non-celestial  functions  of  Zeus 
can  be  shown  to  be  more  or  less  natural  cflSorescences,  so  to 
speak,  of  his  celestial  activities,  although  sometimes  they  may 
be  suspected  of  being  the  results  of  contamination  with  the 
worship  of  other  divinities.' 

In  dealing  with  the  personality  of  Zeus  one  must  avoid  being 
misled  by  his  mere  name,  which  was  occasionally  applied  to 
other  beings  than  the  chief  Olympian.  Thus  Hades,  or  Plou- 
ton,  was  sometimes  spoken  of  as  Zeus,  but  it  was  through 
metaphor,  for  was  not  Hades  the  Zeus  of  the  underworld? 
Rain-making  fetishes  in  various  districts  were  at  times  ad- 
dressed as  Zeus  by  local  votaries;  and  through  haste  and 
ignorance  Hellenic  travellers  would  often  designate  as  Zeus 
the  leading  male  divinity  of  a  strange  community,  this  iden- 
tity being  presumed  most  frequently  of  all  when  they  were 
journeying  in  distinctly  barbarian  countries.  It  is  the  genuine 
Zeus,  the  sky-god,  with  whom  we  are  concerned. 


Hi 


il^ 


\'» 


PLATE   XXXVII 

Zeus 

This  beautiful  statuette  (only  4.8  inches  high)  of 
the  seated  Zeus,  although  of  Roman  execution,  is  re- 
markable for  its  fidelity  to  the  Greek  type.     In   his 
right  hand,  which  rests  on  his  knee,  the  god  grasps  a 
thunderbolt,  while  his  left  hand,  raised  to  the  height 
of  h.s  head,  is  supported  by,  rather  than  supports,  a 
sceptre.     The  treatment  of  the  face,  beard,  and  hair 
IS  similar  to  that  of  the  Zeus  of  Otricoli.     The  slight 
forward  thrust  of  the  head,  and  the  much  less  formal 
grasp  of  the  sceptre,  together  with  certain  other  feat- 
ures, differentiate  this  type  from  that  of  the  Olympian 
Zeus  ot  Pheidias.     From  a  Roman  bronze  copy  of  a 
fourth  century  CJreek  type,  in  the  Metropolitan  Mu- 
seum of  Art,  New  York  (photopuph). 


i    1 


'  >'  I 


r  i 

i 
i  ■ 

{■ 


!:t 


bt 


m 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — ZEUS 


153 


The  Zeus  of  Homer.  —  In  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  Zeus 
no  longer  appears  as  the  sole  divine  arbiter  of  the  sky  and  the 
supreme  lord  of  the  weather,  for  both  Hera  and  Poseidon 
stir  up  wind  and  wave  against  those  who  have  incurred  their 
anger,  apparently  with  only  little  less  freedom  of  initiative 
than  has  Zeus  l.imself."  Yet  when  the  Greeks  set  sail  home- 
ward from  Troy,  we  learn  in  the  Odyssey,  it  was  Zeus  who 
scattered  the  ships;  and  after  Odysseus's  companions  perfidi- 
ously slew  the  Cattle  of  the  Sun  in  Thrinakia,  it  was  Zeus  who 
brought  the  disaster  of  shipwreck  upon  them.  Despite  the 
encroachments  upon  his  power,  he  still  remained  the  undis- 
puted master  of  the  thunder  and  the  lightning,  so  that  when, 
on  the  morning  before  the  slaughter  of  the  suitors,  Odysseus 
heard  the  roar  of  thunder,  he  knew  it  to  be  a  sign  from  Zeus 
that  he  would  not  thwart  his  plans.  This  sort  of  omen  could, 
however,  be  interpreted  as  unfavourable  or  even  as  doubtful, 
as  when,  on  one  occasion,  thunder  which  lasted  all  night  long 
set  both  the  Greek  and  Trojan  armies  to  wondering  what 
Zeus  had  in  store  for  them,  and  made  all  the  warriors  turn 
pale  with  fear. 

Although  in  Homer  the  original  character  of  Zeus  had  be- 
come dim,  whether  in  reality  or  by  contrast,  one  side  of  his 
nature  was  very  clearly  illumined:  he  was  potentially  the  ruler 
of  the  universe.  The  other  gods  had  their  departmental 
functions  in  nature,  but  Zeus  could  usurp  them  if  only  he  chose 
to  do  so,  and  in  the  last  analysis  his  will  was  supreme,  being 
limited  by  nothing,  for  it  was  itself  Fate.  He  was  not  merely 
an  Olympian;  he  v/as  tht  Olympian;  ^  nor  was  he  the  petty  god 
of  a  tribe  or  nation,  for  all  the  peoples  of  whom  Homer  had 
cognizance  acknowledged  his  supremacy  as  "Father  of  gods 
and  men,"  although  the  title  "Father"  conveyed  not  so  much 
the  idea  that  he  was  of  necessity  a  physical  father  or  the 
creator  of  men  and  things  (on  the  contrary,  Okeanos  was  the 
great  creative  source  of  all  things  in  Homer)  as  that  he  exer- 
cised over  the  great  family  of  beings,   human  and  divine, 


11 
.J 


1 54 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


that  kind  of  rule  which  we  call  paternalistic.  To  men  he  dis- 
pensed joys  or  ills,  as  he  pleased;  he  determined  for  them  the 
issues  of  their  battles  in  arms  until  they  became  mere  puppets; 
and  according  to  his  whim  he  warned  or  deluded  by  omens. 
Unlike  the  other  gods,  he  observed  a  strict  neutrality  in 
the  Trojan  War,  save  when  it  suited  his  purposes  to  lean 
toward  this  side  or  toward  that,  and  he  became  gravely 
ethical  on  occasion,  as  when  he  rebuked  Ares  as  a  lover  of 
contention,  or  when  he  ordered  concord  among  the  Ithakans; 
though  at  other  times,  open-eyed,  he  flung  ethics  to  the  winds, 
as  he  did  when  he  devised  means  for  breaking  the  solemn 
truce  between  the  Trojans  and  the  Achaians.  He  wielded, 
Roman-like,  a  patria  potestas  over  the  universe,  for  he  weighed 
the  Fates  of  Hektor  and  Achilles  in  the  scales  and  assented 
to  Hcktor's  death.  This  paternalistic  attitude  showed  most 
clearly  in  the  circle  of  the  gods,  whom  he  convened  in  the  dic- 
tatorial manner  of  a  feudal  chieftain,  and  who  espoused  one  or 
the  other  cause  before  Troy  simply  because  he  said  they 
might.  His  ipse  dixit,  conveyed  by  Hermes,  forced  Kalypso 
to  release  Odysseus  against  her  heart  and  will;  he  bestowed 
boons  upon  the  other  gods,  but  only  as  he  was  convinced  of  the 
real  need  for  them  in  each  instance,  or  as  he  was  forced  through 
guile.  At  times  he  stepped  down  from  his  throne  to  mingle  with 
his  fellows  on  the  common  floor  of  Olympos,  but  he  never  lost 
consciousness  of  his  superiority.  In  all  this  we  are  to  see  not 
the  absolute  political  ideal  of  the  Homeric  period,  but,  rather, 
the  refined  portrayal  of  the  conditions  of  state  to  which  the 
Greeks  of  that  time  had  advanced. 

The  Birth  and  Death  of  Zeus.  —  When  Pausanias  frankly 
admits  that  he  found  it  hard  to  enumerate  all  the  Greek 
localities  which  claimed  to  be  the  birthplace  of  Zeus,  the  dif- 
ficulty and  folly  of  our  attempting  at  this  late  date  to  draw  up 
anything  like  a  complete  catalogue  of  them  is  very  apparent. 
In  Messenia  and  Arkadia  alone  he  records  no  less  than  five 
such  places,  among  them  Mount  Ithome,  the  acropolis  of  the 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — ZEUS 


155 


city  of  Mcssene.  The  account  makes  no  mention  of  the  parent- 
age of  Zeus,  which  leads  one  to  think  that  the  traditional  legend 
of  the  Hcsiodic  story  is  to  be  assumed.  Born,  then,  of  Kronos 
and  Rhea,  Zeus  was  hurried  away  by  the  Kouretes,  an  order  of 
priests,  to  Mount  Ithome  for  fear  of  the  evil  designs  of  his 
father,  and  there  was  placed  in  the  care  of  two  local  nymphs, 
Neda  and  Ithome,  who  washed  him  in  the  waters  of  a  spring 
on  the  slopes  of  the  mountain,  Neda  giving  her  name  to  the 
near-by  river  and  Ithome  hers  to  the  mountain,  while  in  a  most 
childish  fashion  the  theft  of  the  child  and  his  bath  in  the 
water  of  the  fountain  were  combined  to  attach  to  the  spring 
the  name  Klepsydra,  "Stolen  Water."  The  god  was  also  said 
to  have  been  born  on  Mount  Aigaion  in  Arkadia,  where  he  was 
suckled  by  a  goat,  although  Mount  Lykaion  of  the  same  dis- 
trict and  a  mountain  near  Lydian  Sardeis  were  likewise  claimed 
for  this  honour.  The  most  famous  of  all  the  birthplaces,  how- 
ever, was  the  island  of  Crete,  the  legends  variously  pointing  to 
Mounts  Dikte,  Ida,  and  Lyktos  as  the  exact  locality  of  the 
birth.  In  the  most  widely  prevailing  version  Rhea  succeeded 
in  escaping  from  Kronos  just  in  time  to  bear  Zeus  in  a  cave  in 
one  of  these  mountains,  and  in  answer  to  the  rapacious  de- 
mands of  the  new  father  gave  him  a  wrapped  stone  to  swallow 
instead  of  the  child.  The  infant  was  cared  for  by  Amaltheia, 
a  goat,  or  by  local  nymphs,  who,  one  story  runs,  hung  him  in 
a  cradle  on  a  tree  to  elude  the  keen  searches  of  Kronos,  while, 
in  order  to  add  to  the  deception,  the  Kouretes  were  appointed 
to  take  up  their  post  close  by  and  to  make  a  great  din  by 
clashing  their  arms  and  brazen  shields  together,  thus  drowning 
the  child's  cries.  Other  legends  say  that  it  was  a  cow  or  a 
sow  which  nursed  the  infant.  On  the  death  of  Kronos  Zeus 
assumed  the  dominion  over  the  world. 

While  the  fully  developed  pan-Hellenic  Zeus  was  truly  one 
of  the  immortal  gods  who  feasted  on  ambrosia  and  nectar,  yet 
several  local  forms  of  Zeus  were  said  to  die,  and  an  epigram 
attributed  to  Pythagoras*  marked  a  spot  in  Crete  where  re- 


I 
Hi 


156 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 


post'd  the  remains  of  Zeus:  "Here  lieth  in  death  Zan,  whom 
men  call  Zeus."  This  conflict  between  immortality  and  death 
is  easily  explained  if  the  fact  is  borne  in  mind  that  in  some 
districts  of  Crete  he  was,  like  Hyakinthos  in  Lakonia,  a  god 
of  vegetation  who  alternately  lived  and  died;  while  in  Phrygia 
his  descriptive  title  of  "Summer-God"  carried  substantially 
the  same  significance. 

The  Marriages  oj  Zeus.  —  Zeus  is  represented  as  the  most 
uxorious  of  all  the  gods.  Of  his  almost  countless  unions  with 
goddesses  and  women  many  were  accepted  by  the  Greeks  with 
that  absence  of  ^umment  which,  as. a  rule,  is  the  sanction  of 
legitimacy,  but  they  looked  askance  at  a  number  of  others  in  a 
wa\'  whicli  made  them,  to  say  the  least,  the  objects  of  social 
suspicion.' 

'i  the  Hesiodic  tradition  the  first  marriage  of  Zeus  was 
\sith  Metis  and  his  last  with  Hera,  while  in  that  of  the  older 
nic  F   ra  'vas  his  first  and  only  legitimate  wife.  At  all  events, 
icra      -came  his    anonical  wife  in  Greek,  and  later,  as  luno, 
an  mytli;  but  the  portrayal  of  their  conjugal  relation- 
hall  postpone  to  our  discussion  of  the  personality  of 
His  marriages  with  Metis,  Themis,  Mnemosyne,  and 
•ne  were  pr'<bably  simply   poetical,  and    through    the 
;  of  husgestion  added  to  the  conception  of  his  dignity 
•er.    T'-'c  symbolism  is  evident  in  itself.    On  receiving 
ig   t!         a   son   ■  f   Metis    ("Constructive  Thought") 
e  n         powerful  than  his  father  Zeus,  he  swallowed 
.IS-  ed  her  into  his  own  being;  Themis  ("Justice") 


in  R 

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I 

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i.flu 

ad 
a  \\ 
•\oul 

icr  a  ,d 

:ie  m  rt  cc  aut.  the  defeat  of  the  Titans  and  incorporated  her 
persf  nam  -nto  his  regime;  Mnemosyne  ("Memory")  he 
mad-  hi-  .vi:e  as  a  constant  reminder  (to  others,  of  course) 
of  his  great  might;  and  his  affiliation  with  Eurynome  ("Wide 
Rule")  emphasized  the  extent  of  his  dominions.  Besides  the 
foregoing,  the  most  important  goddesses  with  whom  he  was 
united  were  Dione,  who  may  have  been  his  spouse  in  Pelasgic 
times;  Demeter,  the  mother  of  Persephone;  Leto,  the  mother 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — ZEUS 


157 


of  Apollo  and  Artemis;  and  Maia,  the  mother  of  Hermes; 
while  Pyrrha  and  Dia,  who  also  became  his  wives,  are  probably 
two  aspects  of  the  earth  goddess.  The  chief  nymphs  with  whom 
he  was  associated  were  Taygete  of  the  Lakedaimonian  moun- 
tain; Aigina,  of  the  island  which  bears  her  name;  and  Plouto 
of  Lydia.  Of  his  wives  among  women  of  purely  human  or  of 
partly  divine  descent  we  can  mention  only  lo,  Leda,  Danac, 
Europe,  lodama,  Antiope,  Scmelc,  and  Alkmene. 

The  Offspring  of  Zeus.  —  No  children  of  any  other  god  but 
Zeus  ever  attained  to  places  in  the  divine  circle.  Poseidon, 
Hera,  and  Hades  were  of  the  same  Titanic  parentage  as  Zeus 
himself,  but  Athene,  Apollo,  Artemis,  Ares,  Aphrodite,  He- 
phaistos,  Hermes,  Dionysos,  Herakles,  Persephone,  and  the 
Dioskouroi  were  all  his  children.  Of  the  race  of  the  heroes 
many  claimed  him  as  father,  notably  Hellen,  the  founder  of  the 
Hellenic  stock;  Minos,  and  his  brothers  Sarpedon  and  Rhada- 
manthys;  Dardanos,  Tantalos,  and  Aiakos,  heads  of  the  fami- 
lies chiefly  concerned  in  the  war  of  Troy;  Lakedaimon,  the 
first  of  the  Lakedaimonian  strain;  Perseus,  the  demi-god  of 
the  Argolid;  and  Amphion,  Zethos,  and  Thebe,  who  were 
concerned  with  the  beginnings  of  Thebes. 

The  functions  of  Zeus;  Js  Supreme  Cod.  —  In  Zeus's  sphere 
of  action  as  the  supreme  god  we  must  distinguish  the  Zeus  of 
pure  myth  from  the  Zeus  of  serious  religious  import.  In  the 
former  his  supremacy  is  very  often  encroached  upon  by  the 
caprices  of  other  divinities,  with  the  result  that  it  is  logically 
annulled;  it  is  the  same  thing  as  limiting  the  absolute.  In 
serious  cult,  on  the  contrary,  Zeus  was  the  one  god;  not  the 
only  god,  but  the  one  god  among  many  subservient  gods. 
This  is  henotheism  as  opposed  to  monotheism,  but  since  much 
of  this  aspect  has  invaded  the  field  of  myth,  it  is  precisely 
this  which  we  must  endeavour  to  note.  From  Homer  to  the 
dramatic  poets  the  unqualified  use  of  eeo'?,  "god,"  invariably 
refers  to  Zeus,  who  was  the  "Father  of  gods  and  men,"  chiefly 
in  a  spiritual  and  moral  sense,  in  which  last  capacity  it  is 


u 


:ii 


III 


i 


158         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 


natural  to  sec  in  him  the  ultimate  court  of  appeal  for  offences 
against  the  gods  and  the  higher  law,  and  the  final  arbiter  of 
punishments.  With  the  Great  Flood  he  punished  mankind  for 
thiir  impiety;  to  Lykaon's  sons  he  meted  out  death  for  their 
wickedness,  and  Lykaon  himself  he  changed  into  a  wolf  for 
having  essayed  to  hoodwink  a  deity.  After  he  had  condemned 
men  to  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow,  none  else 
could  alter  the  decree.  Because  Tantalos  and  Sisyphos  abused 
their  endowment  of  knowledge  almost  divine  he  imposed  on 
them  terrible  penalties  in  Hades,  while  Prometheus  suffered 
untold  agonies  for  trespassing  on  the  divine  prerogative  to 
fire  and  for  his  gratuitous  enlightenment  of  the  race  of  men. 
For  brazen  insolence  in  attempting  to  scale  the  walls  of  Thebes, 
which  his  son  Amphion  had  built,  Zeus  laid  Kapaneus  low  with 
a  bolt,  and  he  smote  Salmoneus  in  a  like  manner  for  invading 
the  divine  right  of  rain-making.  He  retarded  the  home-com- 
ing of  the  Argonauts  for  their  part  in  the  murder  of  Apsyrtos, 
the  brother  of  Medeia,  and,  finally,  so  comprehensive  was  his 
power,  he  lessened  the  population  of  the  earth  by  making  men 
slaughter  one  another  in  the  great  War  of  Troy.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  the  spiritual  head  of  the  universe,  what  better  judge 
could  there  be  than  Zeus  of  the  right  of  heroes  or  of  men  to 
immortality  and  allied  blessings?  So  it  was  he  who  bestowed  a 
special  form  of  immortality  on  Polydeukes,  who  sent  Kadmos 
and  Harmonia  to  Elysion,  and  who  uttered  the  word  permit- 
ting Prometheus  and  Cheiron  to  exchange  mortality  and  im- 
mortality as  Glaukos  and  Diomedcs  exchanged  bronze  and 
golden  armour;  and  it  was  he,  too,  who  granted  Sarpcdon  a 
lifetime  three  generations  long.  In  his  power  to  confer  various 
forms  upon  men,  as  he  did,  for  instance,  in  making  Lykaon  a 
wolf,  Philyra  a  linden,  and  lo  a  heifer,  and  in  giving  the  pro- 
tection of  invisibility  to  his  favourites,  as  he  did  to  the  wounded 
Herakles  in  Kos,  he  is  not  especially  differentiated  from  the 
other  Olympians;  such  acts  predicate  no  moral  or  spiritual 
power. 


PLATE   XXXVIII 

Zeis  and  the   Kouretes 

The  chief  significance  of  this  scene  in  low  relief  is 
that  It  it  the  earliest  certain  representation  of  Zeus, 
and  scarcely  less  important  is  the  transparent  Euphra- 
tean  style  of  its  composition  and  execution.  Flanked 
by  winged,  male  figures  the  god  stands  like  an  Assyrian 
div  mity  on  a  bull,  and,  after  the  manner  of  the  Babylo- 
nian epic  hero  Gilgamesh,  as  depicted  on  the  seal 
cylinders,  with  both  hands  swings  a  lion  over  his  head. 
This  conception  of  Zeus  as  a  man  in  the  prime  of 
lite  rather  than  as  an  infant  is  true  to  an  ancient 
Cretan  myth  recently  recovered.  The  winged  figures, 
each  beating  a  pair  of  tympana,  are  cvidentlv  Kouretes. 
From  a  design  on  a  Kouretic  bron/,e  tympanon  of  the 
ninth  or  eighth  century  B.C.,  discovered  in  the  sacred 
cave  of  Zeus  on  Mount  Ida  in  Crete  (A.  B.  Cook, 
Zeus,  i,  Plate  XXXV).     See  pp.  154-55. 


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MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  and  ISO  TEST   CHART  No     2 


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THE  GREATER  GODS -ZEUS  159 

Zeus  as  God  of  the  Heavens.  —  Although  the  name  Zeus 
perhaps  originally  denoted  "sky,"  it  is  only  very  rarely, 
notably  in  a  few  local  cults  in  Crete,  that  we  find  this  god 
brought  into  connexion  with  any  of  the  celestial  luminaries. 
At  first  he  was  probably  regarded  as  the  source  of  all  light, 
that  of  the  heavenly  bodies  included,  and  in  this  circumstance 
we  can  find  the  reason  why  there  was  no  well-developed  native 
cult  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars  among  the  Greeks. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  those  rare  Cretan  cults  in  which  Zeus 
seems  to  be  a  sun-god  are  distant  offshoots  of  a  Mesopotamian 
sun-cult. 

It  is  in  his  meteorological  functions  that  Zeus  is  pre-eminent 
in  the  sky.   The  rain  descends  from  the  sky;  therefore,  it  is 
Zeus  the  "cloud-gatherer"  who  dispenses  it,  and  Theokritos 
mentions 8  "the  rain  of  Zeus,"  while  Zew  fe  ("Zeus  rains") 
was  a  popular  saying.     It  was  quite   natural,  then,  for  the 
demon  of  the  magic  rain-stones  of  primitive  communities  to 
be  confused  and  even  identified  with  Zeus,  and  the  story  of 
the  stone  which  Rhea  gave  Kronos  to  swallow  was  doubtless 
derived  from  some  magic  rain-making  ritual,  while  if  Zeus  was 
thus  the  supreme  rain-maker,  the  essential  nature  of  the  sin 
of  Salmoneus  is  manifest.   Now  in  order  to  influence  the  great 
weather  spirit  with  an  immediate  directness  one  must  get  as 
close  to  him  as  possible;  and  what  could  be  nearer  to  him  than 
the  highlands.?  Hence,  the  frequency  with  which  we  find  the 
cults  of  Zeus  on  mountain-peaks  —  on  Dikte  and  Ida  in  Crete, 
on  Olympos  in  Thessaly,  on  Lykaios  in  Arkadia,  or  on  Kithai- 
ron  in  Boiotia,  while  such  general  epithets  as 'TTraro?  ("High- 
est"),   Kopt«^afos   ("of  the  peaks"),  and   'A«^ato?  ("of   the 
summits")  point  to  his  association  with  great  elevations  in 
general.    Yet  he  is  god  of  the  thunder  and  lightning  as  well 
as  of  the  rain.  At  Mantmeia  and  Olympia  he  was  the  lightning 
Itself  and  not  the  directing  agent,  and  with  the  poets  he  is  the 
"Mighty  Thunderer"  and  the  "Hurler  of  Lightning."    The 
lightning  and   the    thunderbolts    forged    by  his   smiths,   the 


'M 


i6o         CREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

Kyklopcs,  were  the  weapons  with  which  he  overthrew  the 
Titans,  while  Pegasos  drew  the  thunder-car  for  him  from  the 
ancient  stables  of  heaven,  and  with  the  lightning  he  separated 
the  battling  Herakles  and  Apollo,  and  visited  sudden  death 
on  those  who  incurred  his  displeasure.  Zeus  was  also  held 
to  be  the  sender  of  the  dew,  which  in  times  of  drought  was  so 
essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  crops  and  pasturage. 

Zeus  as  God  of  Fertility.  —  It  was  but  an  easy  step  for  the 
god  of  the  rain  and  the  dew  to  become  the  god  of  the  fertility 
produced  by  these  forms  of  inoisture.  It  seemed  to  the  Greek 
that  with  these  some  fertilizing  substance  or  vital  principle 
fell  upon  the  receptive  soil,  and  who  but  Zeus  was  the  giver 
of  it?  It  entered  into  plants  from  the  soil  and  into  animals  and 
men  from  plants,  so  that  the  whole  cycle  of  life  was  dependent 
on  Zeus,  who  was  the  great  "Begetter."  *  The  native  Zeus  of 
Attike  was  originally  a  deity  of  agriculture,  as  is  clearly  seen 
in  the  ritual  of  the  Bouphonia,  while  such  epithets  as  "In- 
creaser  of  Fruits,"  "Giver  of  Fruitage,"  and  "Husbandman" 
reveal  him  as  a  god  of  harvest. 

Zeus  in  his  Political  and  Ethical  Aspects.  —  From  the  Aris- 
totelian point  of  view  these  two  aspects  cannot  be  scanned 
separately,  for  ethical  standards  are  nothing  else  than  the 
crystallized  experience  of  organized  society.  In  both  myth 
and  cult  Zeus  was  the  ideal  statesman  of  the  Greeks,  having 
had  that  serenity  of  judgment  which  awakens  the  confidence 
of  the  governed.  His  lordship  over  himself  inspired  self-con- 
trol in  those  who  looked  up  to  him,  and  the  very  stains  upon 
his  dignity  which  the  myths  often  revealed  gave  the  legends 
an  air  of  convincing  reality.  Yet  in  spite  of  his  generally  ac- 
cepted high  political  estate,  we  rarely  meet  with  the  cult  of 
Zeus  Panhellenios  —  the  Zeus  of  the  United  States  of  Greece, 
so  to  speak  —  for  the  Greeks'  keen  sense  of  local  independence 
never  allowed  them  to  realize  this  ideal  in  politics.  He  fre- 
quently appeared,  however,  as  the  guardian  of  the  family 
property,  of  boundaries,  of  wealth,  of  the  domestic  and  state 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — ZEUS 


i6i 


hearths  severally,  and  of  tribal  and  family  kin;  and  he  was 
also  the  patron  of  the  higher  social  interests  collectively  and 
separately,  of  freedom,  of  the  centralized  union  of  tribes  and 
brotherhoods,  and  of  concord  among  the  people.  While  he 
was  sometimes  qualified  by  epithets  like  "War-Lord"  and 
"Bearer  of  Victory,"  yet  he  was  seldom  known  purely  as  a 
god  of  war  —  a  testimony  to  the  advanced  character  of  the 
Greek  religion. 

To  such  an  extent  was  Zeus  the  most  ethical  of  all  the  gods 
of  the  pantheon  that  he  almost  shrank  the  Greek  polytheism 
into  monotheism,  and  it  was  this  fact  which  enabled  the 
Greeks  to  withstand  the  inroads  of  Christianity  for  so  long  a 
time,  even  though  it  was  the  very  feature  which  in  the  end 
facilitated  the  acceptance  of  the  new  faith.  While  Zeus  was 
the  bringer  of  evil  ar,  well  as  of  good  into  the  life  of  men, 
occasionally  the  Greeks  rose  to  the  noble  idea  that  he  was 
above  all  that  was  evil.  He  was  'Ti^to-To?  ("Most  High"), 
and  doubtless  later  generations  erroneously  read  this  same 
ethical  meaning  into  "TTraro?.  Being  such  a  god,  he  was  logi- 
cally at  enmity  with  iniquity,  and  was  driven  by  an  inevitable 
necessity  to  chastise  it,  whence  his  punishments  were  not  the 
results  of  caprice,  although  their  suddenness  might  often  lead 
one  to  think  that  they  were.  Herakles  murdered  a  friend; 
his  slavery  to  Omphale  was  a  ^  tural  retribution  visited  on 
him  by  the  god  of  friendship.  Tantalos  took  the  life  of  his  own 
son  Pelops;  his  punishment  in  Hades  was  a  measure  of  his 
crime  against  the  guardian  of  blood  kinship.  To  violations  of 
pledges  and  of  oaths  taken  in  his  name  Zeus  could  give  only 
short  shrift.  Before  the  eyes  of  the  spectators  at  Olympia  stood 
a  row  of  bronze  images  of  Zeus  called,  in  the  dialect  of  Elis, 
Zanes  ("Zeuses"),  which  had  been  made  with  the  fines  im- 
posed on  those  who  had  broken  the  rules  governing  the  great 
games,  and  which,  in  their  conspicuous  position,  were  na- 
tional reminders  that  Zeus  was  ever  watchful  of  the  fidelity  of 
men  in  the  works  of  organized  society. 


ri 


:|" 


1 62         CREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

Zeus  as  Prophet,  Fate,  Healer,  and  Helper.  —  At  Dodona  in 
Epeiros  stood  the  talking  oak  of  Zeus,  which  delivered  to 
men  messages  concerning  the  future,  and  a  piece  of  which,  we 
recall,  was  built  into  the  prow  of  the  Argo  and  with  human  voice 
spoke  to  the  heroes.  It  was  believed  that  the  tree  gave  utterance 
to  the  thought  of  Zeus  through  the  whisperings  of  its  foliage, 
and  these  were  interpreted  by  skilled  priests  who  made  the 
meanings  known  to  consultants  by  inscribing  them  on  small 
plaques  of  lead.  Just  why  the  oak  of  all  the  trees  was  chosen 
as  the  vehicle  of  Zeus's  communication  we  may  never  know; 
but  perhaps  Sir  J.  G.  Frazer  is  as  near  to  the  truth  as  is 
any  one  when  he  claims  the  oak  as  the  special  tree  of  Zeus 
because  it  is  more  often  struck  by  lightning  than  any  other 
tree  of  the  forest.    The  power  of  Zeus  to  foretell  at  least  the 
immediate  future  by  means  of  the  thunder  and  the  lightning 
we  have  already  pointed  out  in  our  consideration  of  the  Zeus 
of  Homer,  but  he  could  also  reveal  his  will  through  the  flight 
of  birds  across  the  sky,  especially  through  that  of  the  eagle, 
which  was  pre-eminently  his  bird. 

In  a  certain  sense  Zeus  as  Fate  exercised  a  prophetic  func- 
tion; he  could  foretell  because  he  predestined.  In  Homer  it 
was  he  alone  who  foreordained,  and  Moira  ("Fate")  was,  as 
it  were,  an  impersonal  decree  issuing  from  him;  but  in  the  fifth 
century  the  idea  rapidly  gained  currency  that  there  was 
a  power  preforming  the  future  to  which  Zeus  himself  must 
bow.  In  Aischylos,  accordingly,  it  is  the  three  Fates  who 
limit  his  dominion,  but  in  spite  of  this  the  Homeric  belief  never 
wholly  died  out. 

One  need  not  seek  far  for  the  source  of  the  strength  of  Zeus 
as  a  healer  and  helper  of  a  weak  and  feeble  humanity,  for  a 
god  of  his  broad  general  powers  could  do  anything  in  particular, 
so  that  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  attached  to  his  name  such 
epithets  as  "Defender  from  111,"  "Bestower  of  Immunity," 
"Healer,"  "Saviour,"  and  even  "Averter  of  Flies,"  one  of  his 
titles  at'oiympla.   Some  scholars  claim  that  the  stories  of  the 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — HERA 


163 


birth  of  Dionysos  from  the  thigh  of  Zeus  and  of  the  springing 
of  Athene  from  his  head  hark  back  to  an  early  function  of  his 
as  a  god  of  child-birth. 

Zeus  as  a  Chthonic  Divinity.  —  The  few  instances  where 
Zeus  appears  as  a  chthonic  divinity,  or  deity  of  the  underworld, 
were  probably  the  result  of  a  mistaken  identification,  or  of 
an  extension  of  function.  The  Zeus  Chthonios  of  Corinth  was 
a  counterpart  of  Hades,  while  Zeus  Meilichios  of  Attike  be- 
came a  chthonic  god  through  the  character  of  Zeus  as  a  deity 
of  agriculture,  and  Aiakos  of  Aigina,  a  son  of  Zeus  in  the 
legend,  seems  to  have  been  in  origin  a  local  Aiginetan  chthonic 
Zeus. 

Zeus  in  Art.  —  The  maturer  periods  of  Greek  art  represented 
Zeus  as  a  fully  developed  man  standing  or  seated  in  an  atti- 
tude suggestive  of  serene  dignity  and  undisputed  power.  As 
a  rule  he  holds  the  thunderbolt  in  his  hand,  but  sometimes  a 
ruler's  staff  or  an  image  of  Victory,  and  occasionally  an  eagle 
can  be  observed  at  his  side. 

HERA 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Hera.  —  The  original  significance 
of  the  person  and  of  the  name  of  Hera  is  lost  in  the  obscurity 
of  a  remote  past,  but  inasmuch  as  at  all  periods  she  mani- 
fested surprisingly  few  traces  of  Oriental  influences,  we  are 
probably  not  to  look  to  the  East  for  her  introduction  into 
Greece.  She  was  certainly  very  early  a  pan-Hellenic  divinity, 
though  none  can  say  whether  she  came  to  the  land  with  the 
invaders  from  the  north  or  was  a  native  goddess  already 
established.  Her  acknowledged  antiquity  in  Argos  has  led 
some  to  suspect  that  she  was  there  a  Pelasgic  earth  goddess 
whom  the  invaders  adopted  as  their  own  under  the  new  name 
of  Hera; '"  yet  this  explanation  is  puzzling  in  the  light  of  the 
paucity  of  Hera's  earth-functions,  for  in  the  historical  period 
she  was  certainly  not  of  the  earth,  earthy.  Moreover,  why  was 
I  — IS 


il 


iif 


mi 


i64         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 


she  so  implacable  a  foe  of  Dionysos?  Why  did  she  dispense  no 
oracles'  Why,  too,  had  her  children.  Ares  and  Hephaistos,  no 
cluhonic  functions?  The  hypothesis  that  she  was  originally  a 
mcon-goddoss  mav  be  summarily  dismissed  on  the  ground  that 
it  deals  with  an  admittedly  late  conception.  The  name  Hera 
seems  to  have  had  some  connexion  with  that  of  Hcraklcs  and 
perhaps  with  ijpro,  ("hero"),  but  the  statement  that  it  signi- 
fies "the  strong  one"  is  based  without  warrant  on  assumed  re- 
lations of  Hera  with  a  goddess  of  Phoinikia.  _ 

Hera  in  Homer.  —  As  in  the  Theogony  of  Hcsiod,  Hera  is  the 
daughter  of   Kronos   and   Rhea,   and   sister-spouse   of  Zeus. 
Indeed,  she  and  Zeus  arc  the  only  married  pair  on  Olympos, 
but  their  conjugal  life  is  anything  but  smooth,  for  Hera  is  far 
from  being  a  model  wife  like  Andromache  or  Penelope;  rather, 
she  is  a  sort  of  divine  Xanthippe.     She  often  nags  her  hus- 
band until  his  Olympian  patience  is  exhausted,  and  fear  of 
such  nagging  many  a  time  deters  him  from  pursuing  courses 
which  his  judgement  has  decided  are  right  and  proper;  and  she 
has  the  bad  habit  of  taking  the  olT  side  of  any  question  which 
he  mav  favour.    She  envelops  the  Trojans  in  a  mist  to  detain 
them  when  Zeus  has  willed  that  they  advance;  against  the 
wish  of  Zeus  she  hastens  the  sun  westward;  and  by  her  guile 
the  birth  of  Herakles  is  retarded  so  that  her  favourite  Eurys- 
thcus  mav  gain  the  upper  hand.     So  persistent  is  her  inter- 
ference with  the  actions  of  Zeus  that,  humanb"  speaking,  there 
is  no  reason   for  surprise  when   he  cruelly  punishes  her  by 
hanging  her  head  down  from  the  heights  of  heaven. 

Yet,  despite  all  this,  she  is  "the  noblest  of  the  goddesses, 
and  when  she  moves  on  her  throne,  tremors  are  felt  through- 
out Olympos,  while  sometimes  she  even  wields  the  thunder- 
bolt, and  like  her  husband  sends  storm  and  cloud.  She  is  the 
beautiful  divinity  of  the  whif.  arms  (XevKcl^Xevo,)  and  lives 
in  a  "great  luxurious  calm,"  and  she  is,  too,  a  helpful  goddess 
of  child-birth,  under  whose  direction  her  daughters,  the  Eilei- 
thyiai,  control  the  births  of  Herakles  and  Eurystheus. 


Ut 


PLATE   XXXIX 


Hera 

This  statuesque  and  majestic  figure  repreienw  Hera 
as  the  queen  of  the  immortals.  On  her  head  she  wears 
a  chastely  ornamented  golden  diadem,  from  beneath 
which  her  hair  falls  over  her  breast  and  shoulders  in 
long  full  tresses.  Her  chiien,  of  a  delicately  patterned, 
gauzy  linen,  drops  to  her  ankles  which  are  faintly 
visible  through  it,  and  over  this  hangs  a  cloak  of  some 
heavy,  closely  woven  fabric  with  a  middle  band  and 
borders  of  purple.  Her  right  hand  is  concealed,  but  in 
her  exposed  left  she  holds  upright  a  long  sceptre  studded 
with  gold  from  top  to  bottom.  From  a  iyiix  with  a 
white  ground  (about  475  B.C.),  in  Munich  (Furt- 
wangler-Reichhold,  Grinhischt  I'asinmaltrti^'fio.  65). 


era 
rars 
ath 
I  in 
led, 
itly 
>me 
and 
it  in 
Ided 
:h  a 
urt- 

^5)- 


I 


1 


THE  GREATER  (.ODS-HERA 


.65 


Ilera  as  the  Wife  of  Zeus.  -  Tlu-  /.p^  vV"*?.  "^  hc,l>  un 
of  Zeus  and   FKra,  which  wc  have  dcscrilua  in  our  chapter 
on   Beginnings,  was  to  all  the  Creeks  the   ideal  of  married 
existence,   and   although  the  HomeriL  character  of   Hera  as 
wife  persisted  in  mythology  down  to  a  late  period,  yet  her  mar- 
riage was  always  popularly  held  to  have  been  a  ha^)py  one. 
This  savours,  hr)wever,  more  of  courtesy  than  of  truth,  inas- 
much as  the  Greeks  must  have  felt  that  with  a  faulty  model 
before  them  the  stability  of  their  social  life  was  impen.led. 
The  union  itself  is  variously  explained.    Some  are  tempted  to 
see  in  it  an  affiliation  of  natural  f-.rccs,  so  that  where  meteoro- 
logical  elements  are   concerned,  the  domestic   strife  of  Zeus 
and  Hera  would  be  interpreted  as  an  allegorical  representation 
of  the  conflicts  of  air-currents.    Yet  this  cannot  hold  if  Hera 
derived  her  few  celestial  functions  from  her  long  and  intimate 
contact  with  Zeus.   One  extremely  ingenious  theory  »  outlines 
a  very  different  origin  of  the  union      It  points  out  that  af  the 
iep6<t  yd^o,  was  most  celebrated  in  the  chief  Pelasgic  centres 
like  Euboia,  Boiotia,  Argolis,  and  Samos,  it  was  probably 
generally  accepted  in  Pelasgic  times.    In  Dodona,  however, 
the  oldest  Pelasgic  centre  of  the  cult  of  Zeus,  the  wife  of 
Zeus  was  not  Hera  but  Dione,  whence  his  marriage  with  Hera 
must  have  originated  in  the  same  Pelasgic  period.    But  how 
was  it  brought  about  without  a  fatal  wrench  of  religious  senti- 
ment.' The  myth-makers  had  a  way.   If,  by  means  of  a  myth, 
Dionysos  could  be  foisted  on  Zeus  £J  a  son,  it  was  surely  just 
as  easy  to  explain  awa/  one  wife  and  give  him  another.  The 
necessity  for  so  doing  arose,  this  theory  holds,  with  the  inter- 
mingling of  two  racial  stocks  one  of  which  was  matrilinear  and 
worshipped  Hera  as  its  chief  divinity,  and  the  other  of  which 
was  patrilinear  a:A  followed  the  cult  of  Zeus.    To  unite  the 
two  divinities  in  a  sacred  wedlock  would  be  to  secure  a  religious 
sanction  for  the  connubial  and  political  fusion  of  the  two 
strains  of  blood,  and,  accordingly,  Hera  was  torn  from  the 
embrace  of  her  lawful  husb?nd,  Herakles,  and  thrown  into 


I   I 


i 


i66         GREEK  A" 


ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


the  arms  of  a  Jivorced  Zeus,  the  separation  being  so  carefully 
hushed  up,  however,  that  only  scanty  traces  of  it  are  left. 

The  children  of  Hera  and  Zeus  were  Hephaistos,  Ares,  Hebe, 
and  the  Eileithyiai,  but  they  exhibit  few  traits  which  reveal 
their  maternity.  Hephaistos  takes  his  mother's  part  when 
Zeus  punishes  her  for  her  interference,  and  Zeus  himself  apolo- 
gizes for  Ares'  warlike  disposition  in  that  he  inherits  it  from 
his  mother.  Hebe  is  a  sort  of  personification  of  the  well-pre- 
served beauty  of  her  mother,  and  in  one  legend  she  has  no 
relationship  at  all  with  Zeus,  Hera  bearing  her  after  a  most 
mysterious  impregnation  by  a  leaf  of  lettuce.  The  Eileithyiai 
reflect  their  mother's  care  for  women  in  childbed. 

The  Functions  of  Hera.  —  Whether  or  not  Hera  was  origi- 
nally a  goddess  of  the  weather  and  fertility,  she  occasionally 
appears  as  such  in  the  myths,  and,  less  often,  in  her  cults. 
The  gale  which  bore  Agamemnoi.  .j  his  home  shores  after  the 
fall  of  Ilion  was  of  Hera's  making,  and  she  it  was,  too,  who 
caused  the  mist  to  enshroud  the  Trojans.   The  cuckoo,  often 
regarded  as  a  rain-bird,  was  sacred  to  her,  and  Polykleitos 
represented  it  perched  on  her  sceptre,  while  in  one  brief  legend 
Zeus  assumed  the  form  of  the  cuckoo  to  win  her  love.    In 
times  of  drought  processions  of  her  worshippers  would  march 
to  the  mountain-tops  and  there  invoke  her  aid,  and  the  luxu- 
riant growth  of  bloom  which  appeared  after  a  dry  period  had 
been  broken  sprang,  people  said,  from  Hera's  bridal  bed.   She 
was,  moreover,  protectress  of  such  staple  plants  as  the  pome- 
granate and  the  vine,  the  full  development  of  which  depends 
so  directly  upon  the  volume  of  rainfall. 

Hera's  power  to  cause  insanity  was  notorious.  Herakles 
and  Athamas  and  Ino  she  impelled  in  their  madness  to  take 
the  lives  of  their  own  offspring;  lo  she  drove  mad  with  a  gad- 
fly; and  she  made  the  daughters  of  Proitos  roam  wildly  over 
the  Peloponnesos.  Nor  did  the  gods  entirely  escape,  for  she 
cast  a  spell  of  ^renzy  on  Dionysos  for  his  introduction  of  the 
vine,  and  under  its  influence  he  wandered  hither  and  thither 


THE  GREATER  GODS -HERA  167 

in  both  the  nearer  and  the  farther  east.  There  is  a  wide-spread 
nrimitive  belief  that  lightning  brings  madness,  and  perhaps 
this  in  conjunction  with  Hera's  association  with  the  phenomena 
of  the  weather,  may  have  given  rise  to  her  special  power  over 

^^ThToughout  the  Hellenic  peoples  H.ra  was  the  chief  pro- 
tectress of  women,  having  surveillance  over  their  P^rt  of  the 
conjugal  relationships  and  acting  as  their  helper  m  the  hour  of 
travaU,  while,  by  a  logical  projection  of  these  functions,  she 
was  thought  to  have  especial  care  for  the  well-being  of  chil- 
dren.   She  encouraged  matrimony  and  discouraged  celibacy 
The  great  crime  of  the  forty-nine  daughters  of  Danaos  lay  not 
in  the  murder  of  their  husbands  but  in  their  stubborn  will  to 
remain  single,  and  the  punishment  meted  out  to  them  in  Hades 
was  that  imposed  on  celibates  after  death,  according  to  certain 
of  the  mysteries.    Hypermnestra,  who  spared  her  husband, 
seems  to  have  been  in  origin  a  priestess  of  the  Argive  Heraion. 
Hera's  contact  with  the  higher  interests  of  corporate  society 
was  slight.    Nowhere  outside  of  Argos,  and  perhaps  Samos, 
were  her  political  functions  conspicuous,  and   nowhere,  ex- 
cept  in  Argos,  did  she  have  much  to  do  with  the  arts  of  civi- 
lized  existence.    Hephaistos,  the  artisan-god   was  her  son,  to 
be  sure,  but  his  gifts  defied  the  laws  of  heredity.    Though  the 
queen  of  all  Olympian  goddesses,  she  possessed  much   less 
ethical  force  than  Athene,  and  contrary  to  our  expectation 
it  was  not  she  but  the  Erinyes  who  punished  violations  of  the 
marriage  vow.  All  this  tends  to  convince  one  that  her  person- 
ality was  not  the  ideal  of  the  Greek  wife,  but  was  a  reflection 
of  the  restricted  conditions  of  life  surrounding  the  Hellenic 

"^He'dotos's  story  of  the  death  of  Kleobis  and  Biton  is  not 
only  effectively  told,  but  shows  the  Argive  faith  in  Hera  as 
the  final  judge  of  what  constitutes  the  summumbonum  that 
s  as  an  ethical  deity.  The  "father  of  history''  tells  how  a 
certain  woman  of  the  city  of  Argos  planned  to  ride  in  her  ox- 


i- 


i68         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

cart  to  the  Heraion,  some  forty  furlongs  distant,  and  when  the 
oxen  did  not  appear,  her  sons  Kleobis  and  Biton  put  the  yoke 
across  their  necks  and  drew  her  to  the  temple.  Filled  with 
pride  at  the  many  felicitations  which  she  received  on  having 
such  sons,  the  mother  stood  before  the  image  of  Hera  and 
prayed  that  she  would  bestow  upon  Kleobis  and  Biton  the 
greatest  boon  that  men  could  have.  After  sacrificing  and  feast- 
ing, the  young  men  lay  down  and  slept  in  the  precinct  of  the 
goddess,  and  never  woke. 

It  is  not  a  pleasantry  based  on  her  matrimonial  quarrels 
when  we  state  that  there  are  some  evidences  that  Hera  was 
regarded  as  a  goddess  of  war.  Traditions  to  that  effect  seem  to 
underlie  some  of  the  cults,  although  the  only  tangible  hint  of 
this  in  myth  is  found  In  the  story  of  Herakles,  since  Alkmene's 
name  indicates  that  she  was  primitively  a  divinity  of  war,  and 
her  close  association  with  Hera  through  her  son  may  mean 
that  she  was  actually  Hera  herself. 

Hera  in  Art.  —  The  Hera  of  art  lacks  the  clear-cut  attri- 
butes of  personality  belonging  to  the  Hera  of  myth  and  cult. 
She  has  no  sure  tag  of  identification  about  her  representations, 
such  as  Artemis  has  in  her  bow  and  Athene  in  her  aegis,  al- 
though at  a  late  period  she  occasionally  had  a  peacock  beside 
her.  In  her  great  statue  in  the  Argive  Heraion,  the  work  of 
Polykleitos,  she  was  shown  holding  a  pomegranate  in  one  hand, 
and  on  the  top  of  her  staff,  held  in  the  other  hand,  perched  a 
cuckoo.  She  generally  appeared  as  a  beautiful  mature  woman, 
with  or  without  a  veil,  seated  on  a  throne. 


i.r 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  GREATER  GODS  — ATHENE 

rHE  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Athene.— The  most  that  one 
can  say  of  the  origin  of  Athene  is  that  she  belonged  to  the 
so-called  Achaian  period  and  was  worshipped  by  Dorian  and 
Ionian  alike,  while  her  cult  was  diffused  uniformly  over  the 
entire  Greek  world.  No  observable  traces  of  a  Pelasgic  descent 
cling  to  her  person,  although  she  may  have  been  Pelasgic. 
Equally  lacking  are  marks  of  her  importation  from  the  Orient; 
this  we  confidently  assert  in  the  face  of  apparently  well-sup- 
ported statements  that  she,  along  with  Hera,  was  an  offshoot 
of  the  Philistine  goddess 'Assah  of  Gaza;  and  her  identification 
at  Corinth  with  the  Syro-Arabian  goddess  AUat  was  a  mere 
accident.    The  main  lines  of  her  character  and  the  forms  of 
her  worship  observed,  for  instance,  in  Tegea,  Sparta,  Kyrene, 
Rhodes,  and  Athens  were  all  developed  primarily  in  Argos, 
but  of  all  these  places  Athens  alone  added  new  traits  and 
stimulated  the  logical  unfolding  of  old  ones,  so  that,  for  this 
reason,  it  is  in  Athens  that  we  can  study  Athene  to  the  greatest 
advantage.    As  for  the  meaning  of  her  name,  here  again  we 
must  confess  to  ignorance,  although  one  suggested  etymology 
is  at  least  worth  consideration.    This  derives  her  appellation 
from  i-^^jwoK  ("without  mother's  milk")  and  interprets  it  either 
passively  or  actively,  the  reference  in  the  former  sense  being 
to  Athene's  unmothered  birth  from  Zeus  and  in  the  latter  to  her 
sexless  character,  which  is  much  like  that  of  the  Amazons.^ 

Athene  in  Homer.  —  Homer  constantly  depicts  Athene  as 
the  beloved  daughter  of  Zeus,  but  nowhere  does  he  allude  to 
her  birth  from  his  head.    She  is  more  like  the  chief  Olympian 


f 


i1  J 


,70         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

than  is  any  one  of  the  other  divinities,  male  or  female,  not 
only  resembling  him  in  the  wide  range  and  directness  of  her 
activities  as  well  as  in  the  high  type  of  her  mentality,  but  also 
possessing  a  large  measure  of  her  father's  spontaneous  re- 
sourcefulness in  crises.  By  reason  of  her  ready  wit  she  has  a 
natural  affinity  for  Odysseus,  and,  on  the  principle  ..  n  "God 
helps  those  who  help  themselves,"  stands  ready  at  aii  limes  to 
assist  him.  She  is  the  patroness  and  model  worker  of  all  those 
arts  of  life  which  demand  mgenuity  and  dexterity;  she  is 
skilled  in  the  smithing  of  gold,  in  weaving  and  other  domestic 
accomplishments.  She  endowed  Penelope  and  the  daughters  of 
Pandareos  with  their  skill  in  all  handiwork,  and  she  it  was, 
too,  who  gave  deftness  to  the  thought  and  hand  of  Epeios  in 
fashioning  the  wooden  horse,  the  instrument  of  Troy's  fall. 
While  she  frequently  takes  sides  in  the  actual  strife  before 
Troy,  she  does  so  rather  as  a  great  strategist  than  as  one  who 
delights  in  carnage  and  havoc. 

The  Birth  of  Athene.  —  In  the  Theogony  of  Hesiod  we  are 
told  that  Ouranos  and  Gaia  warned  Zeus  that  his  wife.  Metis, 
then  pregnant  with  Pallas,  would  bear  a  sen  who  would  be- 
come the  king  of  gods  and  men.    Keeping  his  counsel  to  him- 
self,  Zeus  approached  Metis  and  craftily  persuaded  her  to 
assume  the  form  of  some  very  small  animal  (a  late  legend  says 
that  she  became  a  fly),  whereupon  he  promptly  swallowed  her, 
and,  after  a  time,  Pallas  Athene  leaped  forth  from  his  head  m  a 
panoply  of  gold.    "And   mighty  Olympos  shook  dreadfully 
beneath   the   fearful   bright-eyed   goddess,   and   round   about 
earth  loudly  re-echoed;  the  sea  was  moved,  being  stirred  with 
purple  waves;  suddenly  the  spray  was  thrown  aloft  and  the 
glorious  son  of  Hyperion  halted  his  swift  steeds  till  such  time 
as  the  maiden  Pallas  Athene  had  removed  her  divine  armour 
from  her  immortal  shoulders.     And  all-counselling   Zeus  re- 
joiced." ==   In  a  variant  form  of  this  myth  Brontes,  one  of  the 
Kyklopes,  begat  Athene  by  Metis,  who  was  swallowed  by 
Zeus  before  she  could  bring  her  offspring  into  the  world;  and 


t  ■  ■■• 


l/i' 


PLATE  XL 


Athene 

To  understand  this  statue  fully  one  must  restore  to 
the  right  of  it  the  remainder  of  the  group  to  whiih  it 
seems  to  have  belonged  -,  i.  e.  Marsyas  drawing  back 
from  a  pair  of  flutes  lying  on  the  ground  before  him. 
The  goddess,  a  self-possessed  and  thoroughly  maidenly 
figure,  glancing  indifferently  toward  the  instruments, 
is  about  to  turn  away  to  the  left  as  though  instinctively 
aware   of  her   native   superiority  to  the   half-bestial 
creature  near  her.     The  Corinthian  helmet,  the  crest 
of  which  is  lost,  here  serves  only  as  a  means  of  iden- 
tification.    This  statue  is  apparently  a  replica  of  the 
first    century  B.C.  or  a.d.    of  a  bronze    original   by 
Myron  (latter  part  of  the  fifth  century  b.c),  and  is 
now  in  Frankfort  {JHAI  xii,  Plate  II). 


t  ,, 


THE  GTIEATER  GODS -ATHENE  171 

in  other  stories  she  is  the  daughter  of  Pallas,  or  of  a  sea- 
nymph,  Koryphe,  by  either  Zeus  or  Poseidon.  The  canomcal 
myth  of  her  birth  seems  to  have  been  invented  very  early  to 
account  for  her  already  established  traits  of  wisdom  and  moral 
sense,  while  the  legend  in  which  Koryphe  mothers  her  .s  ap- 
parently  an  outgrowth  of  a  cult-title,  such  as  Kop.,^a.a,  which 
commemorated  her  birth  from  the  head  of  Zeus.  It  .s  not 
impossible  that  in  the  first  place  Metis  was  Athene  herself. 

The  Functions  of  Athene.  -  The  Athene  of  myth  and  worslup 
alike  was  a  goddess  of  practical  and  not  of  speculative  life. 
None  but  a  utilitarian  philosophy  could  spring  from  contem- 
plation of  her  being,  and  there  was  very  little  symbolism  m 
her  rites.  She  neither  personified  nor  controlled  any  special 
department  of  nature,  although,  as  occasion  required,  she 
could  work  in  a  number  of  them.  In  her  mature  develop- 
ment she  was  the  social  deity  par  excellence,  unmarrcd  by  many 
of  the  primitive  crudities  which  still  clung  to  the  distinctively 

nature-gods.  , 

\thene  was  the  inventress  and  craftswoman  among  the 
Olympians,  and  in  that  capacity  was  associated  with  Hephai- 
stos  and  Prometheus.    It  was  she  who  contributed  the  soul  to 
the  fashioning  of  Pandora,  and  she  invented  the  plough    and 
first  contrived  spinning,  weaving,  and  working  in  rnetal.    lo 
artisans  she  gave  special  thought.    Phereklos,  the  builder  o 
the  ships  of  Paris,  she  loved  above  all  men,  and  she  herself 
assisted  in  the  building  of  the  Argo.    It  was  said  that  she  in- 
vented the  flute  and  with  it  imitated  the  wails  of  the  two  sur- 
viving Gorgons   as   they   lamented  over  the  body  of   their 
sister  Medousa;  and  although  this  story  seems  to  be  a  fiction 
to  account  for  only  a  certain  motif  on  the  flute,  yet  elsewhere 
Athene  was  credited  with  the  invention  of  flute  music  in  gen- 
eral   The  honours  of  having  contrived  the  Pyrrhic  dance  were 
indefinitely  divided  between  Athene  and  the  Kouretes;  some 
claimed  that  she  originated  it  to  celebrate  the  victory  over  the 
Titans.    She  was  the  first  to  subdue  horses  to  human  use, 


•  ^m 


J  •  ■ 


172         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLCKJY 

and  for  their  control  devised  the  bit  and  bridle,  while  from 
her  hands  Bcllerophon  received  the  bridle  with  which  he  guided 
Pcgasos.  It  was  as  a  divinity  of  skill  rather  than  of  the  sea 
that  she  exercised  a  patronage  over  seamanship  and  gave 
success  to  the  Athenian  marine,  and  she  it  was  who  safely 
steered  the  Argo  past  the  perilous  Symplegades. 

In  Attikc,  Athene  was  active  In  another  practical  field  — 
that  of  agriculture.  She  was  especially  associated  with  the 
olive,  and  it  was  in  Salamis 

"...  where  first  from  the  earth 
The  prey-gleaminp  fruit  of  the  maiden 
Athena  had  birth." ' 

After  creating  the  olive,  she  revealed  its  uses  to  mankind. 
She  and  Poseidon  contested  the  ownership  of  Attike,  and  a 
decision  was  promised  by  arbiters  to  that  one  of  the  two  who 
would  confer  the  greatest  benefit  upon  the  citizens,  whereupon 
Poseidon,  with  a  stroke  of  his  trident,  produced  the  salt  spring 
and  Athene  planted  the  olive-tree,  both  on  the  Acropolis. 
The  land  was  awarded  to  Athene,  and  from  her  gift  were  grown 
the  olive  orchards  of  the  Attic  plain.  Her  associations  with 
agriculture,  in  general,  seem  not  to  have  been  original,  but,  as 
it  were,  a  legacy  of  an  earlier  agricultural  divinity  whom  she 
displaced.  The  serpent  in  the  Erechiheion  and  the  obscene 
fertility  rites  hinted  at  in  the  story  of  Erichthonios's  birth 
from  Athene  apparently  go  back  to  such  a  divinity. 

As  a  war-goddess  Athene  was  much  the  same  outside  of 
Homer  as  within,  and  her  attitude  was  that  of  a  defender 
rather  than  that  of  a  provoker  of  war.  She  took  her  part  in 
the  just  defence  of  Zeus  from  the  attack  of  the  Titans,  her 
special  antagonist  in  this  conflict  being  Enkelados;  and  she 
directed  particular  attention  to  the  development  of  efficiency 
in  the  cavalry  and  to  difficult  siege  operations.  A  branch  of  her 
olive  was  an  emblem  of  peace  won  by  arms. 

Although  Athene  provoked  the  storm  that  scattered  the 


THE  GREATER  GODS -ATHENE 


173 


Achaians  departing  from  Ilion,  although  she  shattered  the 
ship  of  Aias  with  a  lightning-bolt  and  aided  Odysseus  time 
and  again  with  favourable  changes  of  wind  and  weather, 
she  cannot  be  regarded  as  decidedly  a  weather-goddess,  her 
activities  in  this  sphere  doubtless  coming  from  her  intimate 
relationship  to  Zeus. 

Most  of  Athene's  social  aspects  have  been  brought  out  in- 
cidentally in  the  foregoing  discussion  of  her  attributes.  Oc- 
casionally, however,  she  pppearcd  as  the  patroness  of  the  de- 
liberative and  executivf  branches  of  the  state,  and  as  Athene 
Polias  in  Athens  she  was  the  divine  mainstay  of  the  entire 
body  politic.  Her  outstanding  moral  characteristic  is  her  un- 
impeachable chastity,  so  that  on  Tegea  she  brought  a  plague 
because  Auge's  babe,  born  out  of  wedlock,  had  been  concealed 
in  her  precinct,  while  her  anger  against  the  son  of  Oileus  was 
aroused  more  by  his  offence  against  a  general  moral  law  pro- 
tecting suppliants  than  by  the  desecration  of  her  shrine  in 
particular. 

Athene  in  Art.  —  There  are  two  outstanding  types  of  repre- 
sentations of  Athene.  In  th:  first,  which  is  the  more  common, 
she  is  shown  standing  wit  ce  and  shield,  wearing  a  helmet, 
and  carrying  the  aegis  with  le  Gorgoneion,  or  Gorgon's  head; 
in  the  other  type  she  is  seated  and  unarmed;  in  both  th 
and  the  snake  sometimes  appear  as  distinctive  attributes. 


Ill 


ii 


.1' 

1: 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   GREATER  GODS  — LETO,  APOLLO, 
ARTEMIS,   HEKATE 

LETO 

LETO  (Latin  Latona)  was  the  daughter  of  the  Titans  Koios 
and  Phoibe.  In  Homer  she  was  already  held  to  be  the 
mother  of  Apollo  and  Artemis,  and,  in  more  than  a  transient 
sense,  the  spouse  of  Zeus.  When  Aineias  was  wounded,  she 
assisted  in  caring  for  !iim,  but  her  act  is  not  to  be  regarded  as 
significant  of  a  religious  function,  for  her  chief  importance  lies 
in  her  motherhood  of  Apollo  and  Artemis. 

The  Birth  of  Apollo  and  Artemis.  —  The  story  of  the  birth 
of  Apollo  and  Artemis  can  be  made  complete  by  piecing  to- 
gether a  portion  of  a  Homeric  Hymn  to  Apollo'  and  several 
supplementary  myths.  The  statement  in  one  of  the  latter 
that  Artemis  was  born  the  day  before  Apollo  must  be  held  in 
mind  as  an  explanation  of  her  presence  at  her  brother's  birth. 

Being  great  with  child  by  Zeus,  Leto  wandered  from  land 
to  land  about  the  Aegean  searching  for  a  place  in  which  to 
bring  her  son  to  the  light;  but  everywhere  the  people  feared 
his  predestined  power,  and  she  was  turned  cruelly  away. 
At  last  she  reached  the  island  of  Rhcneia,  and  at  her  own  re- 
quest was  taken  from  there  to  Dclos,  which  she  earnestly  begged 
to  afford  her  the  refuge  that  she  so  much  needed.  After  long 
hesitation  the  island  consented  to  receive  her  on  condition 
that  she  would  swear  a  solemn  oath  that  her  son's  first  shrine 
would  be  erected  there,  and  that  he  would  abundantly  honour 
and  not  despise  this  unproductive  tract  of  rock.  Leto  swore 
by  the  Styx  (the  most  awful  of  all  oaths),  and  was  forthwith 


THE  GREATER  GODS -APOLLO  I75 

received.  Tbcn  her  birth-pangs  began,  enduring  for  nine  days 
and  nine  ni-.hls.  but  with  m.  result,  although  she  was  helped 
by  Artemis.  Themis.  Amphitrile,  and  other  divinities,  until 
finally  these  sent  for  Eileithyia,  who,  hastening  to  Dclos,  soon 
consummated  the  birth.    The  attending  goddesses  cared  for 
the  infant  Apollo,  wrapping  him  in  fine  linen,  and  Themis 
gave  him  nectar  and  ambrosia.    As  soon  as  the  divine  food 
put  strength  into  him,  up  he  leaped,  burst  his  bands,  suddenly 
attained  the  stature  of  a  man,  and  taking  the  zither  and  the 
bow  and  arrows  into  his  hands  strode  to  the  summit  of  Mount 
Kvnthos,  while  the  whole  island  gleamed  with  a  golden  light. 
The  union  of  Lcto  and  Apollo  as  thus  set  forth  seems  to 
have  been  founded  on  some  local  cult-association  of  the  two 
divinities;  and  tha  between  Leto  and  Artemis  probably  devel- 
oped from  a  similarity  in  function  as  helpers  of  women  in 
travail  and  as  protectresses  of  children,  the  wandering  of  Leto 
being  symbolic  of  this  so  far  as  it  depicts  her  as  retarding  or 
as  advancing  birth  at  will. 

Uto  and  Tityos;  Leto  and  A'.oi..  -  Travellers  on  their  way 
tr  Apollo's  shrine  at  Delphoi  were  often  waylaid  by  a  brutal 
giant  named  Tityos,  and  when  Leto  was  once  bound  thither, 
he  attempted  lustful  violence  upon  her.  Both  to  avenge  his 
mother  and  to  aid  peaceful  pilgrims  Apollo  slew  Tityos,  who 
was  condemned  in  the  underworld  to  pay  a  horrible  penalty 
for  his  crimes.  For  her  insolence  in  boasting  that  her  mortal 
children  were  superior  to  the  immortal  offspring  of  Leto. 
Niobe  was  changed  into  a  figure  of  stone,  and  her  children  were 
slain  by  the  arrows  of  Apullo  and  Artemis. 


APOLLO 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  J  polio.  -  ApoWo,  the  brightest 
and  the  most  complex  creation  of  polytheism,  seems  to  have 
been  originally  the  leading  god  of  a  people  who  migrated  into 
Greece  from  the  north  in  prehistoric  times,  his  northern  origin 


176         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

being  apparently  reflected  in  the  fixed  routes  followed  by  the 
sacred  processions  to  his  two  chief  shrines.  The  one  way, 
wliich,  we  may  note,  Apollo  himself  followed,  according  to  the 
longer  Homeric  Hymn  in  his  honour,  ran  southward  from 
Tempe  through  lolkos  and  Thebes  to  Delphoi;  and  the  other 
led    the  pilgrims  bearing  the  Hyperboreian  fruits  overland 


Apollo,  shown  as  an  effeminate  youth  with  long  hair,  is  striding  forward  with  a 
double  axe  in  his  right  hand.  The  backward  look,  the  bent  knees,  and  the  swinging 
arms  of  Tityos  together  indicate  the  giant's  great  fear  and  rapid  flight.  From  a  red- 
figured  .\ttic  amphora  of  the  Nolan  tvpe  found  at  Gela  {Monumenli  Antichi,  xviii, 
Plate  X). 

along  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic  to  Dodona,  thence  eastward 
to  the  Gulf  of  Euboia,  and  from  that  point  by  ship  to  Delos. 
Apollo's  initial  function  is  by  no  means  certain,  nor  has  any 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  source  and  meaning  of  his 
name  yet  been  offered. 

Apollo  in  Homer.  —  In  Homer  Apollo  is  already  the  son  of 
Zeus  and  the  brother  of  Artemis,  but,  although  his  chief  physi- 
cal traits  and  the  leading  features  of  his  character  are  fixed, 


II 


PLATE   XLI 

The  Apollo  Belvedere 

The  position  of  the  god,  standing  as  he  is  with  his 
feet  well  apart  and  extending  one  hand  forward  while 
the  other  drops  almost  to  his  side,  suggests  that  he  has 
just  shot  an  arrow  from  his  bow  and  with  his  eye  is 
following   its   distant   flight.     This    interpretation    is 
certainly   in    harmony  with   other   representatic    ,   of 
him,  although  here  he  seems  to  be  playing  the  role  of 
archer  before  a  throng  of  admirers  rather  than  to  be 
engaged   in  the  serious  business  of  hitting  a   living 
mark,  and  although,  too,  almost  all  of  his  individual 
characteristics   have   been  idealized   away.     From   a 
marble  (a  copy  of  a  Hellenistic  bronze)  in  the  Belve- 
dere of  the  Vatican  (Brunn-Bruckmann,  Denkmaler 
grtechtscher  und  romiuher  Sculptur^  No.  419). 


•li^ 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — APOLLO 


177 


he  has  yet  to  evolve  the  complex  personality  by  which  he  is  to 
be  known  to  the  Greeks  after  the  fifth  century  B.C.  He  has  to 
do  with  light,  but  is  not  convincirgly  identified  with  Helios. 
He  is  a  god  of  healing,  but  not  yet  the  god  of  healing,^  so 
that  he  revives  Hektor  after  he  has  been  wounded  in  conflict. 
With  the  power  of  healing  must  be  assumed  its  opposite,  the 
ability  to  inflict  harm,  whence  it  was  Apollo  who,  in  consequence 
of  a  slight,  sent  the  pestilence  upon  the  men  and  beasts  of  the 
Achaian  camp.  He  is  himself  the  expert  archer  of  the  Olym- 
pians and  confers  on  Pandaros  and  Teukros  skill  in  the  uce  of 
the  bow,  but,  though  he  wields  the  bow  and  occasionally  takes 
part  in  the  strife  as  a  violent  partisan  of  the  Trojans,  he  is 
only  accidentally  a  god  of  war.  He  is  associated  with  prophecy 
in  that  seers,  like  Kalchas,  draw  their  inspiration  from  him. 
Descriptions  of  him  always  represent  him  as  in  the  prime  of 
young  manhood,  v/ith  flowing  locks  of  golden  hair. 

Jpollo  in  Delphoi.  —  Python,  the  huge  dragon-offspring  of 
Earth,  learned  that  he  was  doomed  to  die  at  the  hands  of  a 
son  whom  Leto  should  bear,  and  to  forestall  the  future  he 
sought  to  kill  her,  but  was  frustrated  by  Zeus,  who  removed 
her  to  a  place  of  safety  u.-til  her  children  were  born.    Soon 
after  his  birth  Apollo  took  from  Hephaistos  a  quiver  of  arrows 
and  with  them  slew  his  mother's  foe  at  Delphoi,  thereby  earn- 
ing for  himself  the  title  Pythios,  and,  burying  the  body  of 
the  Python  in  the  temple,  he  instituted  over  it  funeral  games 
which  were  thereafter  known  as  the  Pythian  Games.    Closely 
allied  with  this  legend  is  the  account  which,  in  the  Homeric 
Hymn  dedicated  to  the  god,  tells  of  his  founding  of  his  own 
shrine.    Leaving  Olympos,  Apollo  pressed  southward,  pass- 
ing through  lolkos,  Euboia,  and  Thebes,  and  at  last  came 
to  Delphoi,  on  the   slopes  of  Mount   Parnassos  overlooking 
the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  where  he  built  a  beautiful  temple  from 
which   to  deliver  oracles,  he  himself  laying  the  foundation 
but  entrusting  the  rest  of  the  work  to  human  hands.   Hard  by 
the  fane  was  a  spring  where  lurked  Typhon,  a  destructive 


VH 


1::!.: 


178 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


monster,  unlike  both  gods  and  men,  which  Hera  begot  without 
Zeus  in  answer  to  her  prayer  that  Earth  grant  her  a  son  who 
would  overthrow  her  husband.  With  one  of  his  sharp  shafts 
Apollo  laid  Typhon  low,  and  because  he  left  the  carcass  upon 
the  ground  to  rot,  the  deity  was  called  Pythios,-  if  a  play  upon 
words  can  convince  any  one.  In  these  two  narratives  we  may 
perceive  indications  that  the  Earth  Goddess  had  a  mantic 
seat  at  Dclphoi  bcfcie  the  cult  and  oracle  of  Apollo  were  es- 
tablished there,  this  being  partially  verified  by  the  story  that 
Earth,  jealous  of  Apollo's  usurpation,  sent  dream-oracles 
to  visitors  at  the  fane  to  thwart  the  Apolllne  method  of  re- 
vealing the  future,  whereupon  the  god  appealed  to  Zeus,  who 
ordered  that  no  more  prophecies  of  this  type  be  dispensed 
in  the  shrine.  When  Apollo  had  completed  his  temple,  the 
Homeric  Hymn  continues,  he  cast  about  for  suitable  prests 
to  ser\-e  him,  and,  spying  a  company  of  Cretans  in  a  ship 
bound  for  Pylos,  he  leaped  into  the  sea  in  the  form  of  a  dol- 
phin and  thence  into  the  hollow  of  the  vessel.  None  durst 
touch  or  disturb  him,  and,  as  long  as  he  lay  there,  the  sailors 
lost  all  control  of  their  helm,  so  that,  in  spite  of  themselves, 
they  were  carried  past  their  goal  and  eastward  up  the  Gulf  of 
Corinth  until  they  came  to  Krisa,  the  port  of  Delphoi.  There 
Apollo,  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful  youth,  revealed  himself  to 
them,  and,  appointing  them  the  holy  servitors  of  his  temple, 
bade  them  worship  him  thenceforth  under  the  title  Delphinios 
("Dolphin-Like"),  the  site  of  the  shrine,  formerly  called 
Pytho,  being  now  given  the  name  of  Delphoi.  This  legend  ap- 
parently records  a  historical  fact  that  the  Delphinian  Apollo, 
who  was  widely  regarded  as  a  saviour  from  shipwreck,  was  of 
Cretan  provenance.^ 

The  Functions  of  Apollo.  —  Undoubtedly  the  best  known 
power  of  Apollo  was  that  of  prophecy.  As  has  already  been 
clearly  intimated,  his  chief  prophetic  shrine  was  Delphoi, 
although  other  centres,  probably  offshoots  of  Delphoi,  like 
Branchidai,  were  found  in  various  places.   His  foreknowledge 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — APOLLO 


179 


was  consulted  in  all  sorts  of  matters.  Aigeus  and  later  Kreousa 
and  Xouthos  sought  it  in  reference  to  offspring;  Herakles, 
regarding  a  cure  for  the  dreadful  malady  which  afflicted  him; 
Kadmos,  in  order  to  find  the  lost  Europe.  The  Epigonoi  were 
assured  through  it  of  the  ultimate  victory  of  their  cause  against 
Thebes,  and  Alkmaion  used  it  as  a  sanction  for  the  murder  of 
his  mother  Eriphylc.  In  historical  times  the  oracle  was  con- 
sulted time  and  again,^  and  although  many  of  the  more  en- 
lightened Greeks,  Thoukydides  for  instance,  frankly  held  the 
popular  confidence  in  the  oracle  to  be  pure  superstition,  they 
did  not  question  the  value  of  Dclphoi  as  essential  to  the 
maintenance  of  Greek  political  and  moral  unity.  The  story 
of  Kassandra  reflects  the  oracular  powers  of  Apollo.  It  seems 
that  Apollo  desired  her  to  yield  him  her  love,  but  she  refused, 
although  he  promised  to  endow  her  in  return  with  the  gift  of 
foreseeing  the  future,  whereupon,  to  punish  the  obstinate 
maiden,  he  gave  her  the  promised  boon,  but  added  to  it  the 
penalty  that  her  prophecies  would  never  be  believed. 

Inasmuch  as  the  oracle  was  most  commonly  consulted  con- 
cerning the  healing  of  disease,  it  was  easy  for  Apollo  to  be- 
come a  god  of  healing.  If  he  was  aboriginally  a  divinity  of 
light,  this  function  becomes  more  readily  understood,  for  the 
ancients  were  well  aware  of  the  purifying  nature  of  light,  and 
moreover  the  physician  has  always  been  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
compound  of  seer  and  healer.  As  healer,  Apollo  was  known 
under  many  names,  notably  that  of  Paian,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  purpose  of  the  Paian  hymn  sung  before  battle  and 
after  victory  was  to  invoke  healing  for  the  wounds  of  conflict. 

Apollo  was  the  divine  guardian  of  navigation,  a  function 
which  seems  to  have  had  its  root,  not  in  any  special  lordship 
over  the  sea,  but  in  the  wide  diffusion  of  his  cult  in  all  Hellenic 
settlements.  He  exercised  control  not  so  much  over  the  sea  as 
over  those  elements  and  physiographical  features  which  make 
for  the  convenience  and  safety  of  voyages  —  tradewinds,  har- 
bours, estuaries,  and  the  like.  From  the  highways  of  the  ocean 
.  —  16 


-i 


i8o 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 


his  supervision  was  naturally  extended  to  the  highways  of  the 
land,  and  he  became  the  protector  of  wayfarers,  whence  the 
presence  of  his  images  in  the  streets  before  housedoors. 

The  role  of  Apollo  as  the  divine  founder  of  colonies  is  doubt- 
less as  early  as  the  period  of  the  immigration  which  brought 
him  into  the  Hellenic  world.  As  the  years  went  by,  this  part 
was  greatly  enlarged  through  the  frequency  with  which  pro- 
spective colonists  appealed  to  his  oracle  to  throw  light  on 
the  destiny  of  their  settlements  abroad,  and  epithets  like 
"  Founder"  point  to  this.  He  was  even  said  to  guide  emigrants 
to  their  new  homes  in  the  form  of  some  bird,  especially  of  a 
sea-bird,  such  as  the  diver  or  the  gull,  and  he  came  himself,  in 
one  account,  to  Delphoi  from  the  land  of  the  Hyperboreians 
in  a  chariot  drawn  by  swans.  In  just  such  a  car  he  conveyed 
Kyrene  to  Africa,  and  we  have  already  noted  how,  as  a  dolphin, 
he  led  his  ministers  to  his  shrine  in  Delphoi.  Owing  to  this 
intimate  connexion  with  the  establishing  of  new  states  his 
name  easily  became  woven  into  the  genealogies  of  their  human 
founders,  so  that,  for  instance,  as  Patrcos  he  was  literally 
known  in  Athens  as  the  flesh-and-blood  father  of  Ion  by  the 
Athenian  maiden  Krcousa.  Now  it  was  logical  to  expect  the 
founder  to  continue  his  favour  past  the  initial  stages  of  set- 
tlement and  to  ensure  the  well-being  of  the  established  com- 
munity, whence  we  find  Apollo  as  the  protector  and  ideal  of 
youth,  i.  e.  of  the  citizens  to  be,  in  which  connexion  it  will 
be  remembered  tliat  Hcraklcs  dedicated  to  him  a  lock  of  his 
hair  on  attaining  to  manhood.  We  see  him,  too,  protecting  all 
useful  plants  as  well  as  herds.  As  Smintheus,  he  saves  the  crops 
from  the  ravages  of  mice;  the  Karnelan  Apollo  of  Lakedaimon 
was  a  god  of  horned  cattle;  and  Apollo  himself  herded  the 
flocks  of  Admetos  for  a  season.  Of  the  trees  the  laurel,  apple, 
and  tamarisk  were  sacred  to  him.  His  relation  to  the  laurel 
is  c^'mly  pictured  in  the  story  that  Apollo  loved  Daphne,  the 
daughter  of  the  river  Peneios  and  Earth,  but,  evading  his  em- 
brace, the  maiden  besought  her  mother  to  save  her.    Earth, 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — APOLLO 


i8i 


hearkening  to  the  prayer,  allowed  her  to  sink  partly  from  sight 
and  changed  her  into  the  laurel-tree,  whereupon,  breaking  off  a 
branch,  Apollo  crowned  his  head  with  it. 

Although  Hermes  was  credited  with  the  invention  of  the 
lyre,  Apollo  was  the  skilled  performer  upon  it.  In  myth  he  is 
but  rarely  represented  as  employing  the  flute,  a  pictorial  manner 
of  saying  that  the  wailing  notes  of  this  instrument  were  not  in 
harmony  with  the  Apolline  ritual,  and  the  superiority  of  the 
lyre  is  the  substance  of  the  story  of  the  contest  between  Apollo 
and  Marsyas.  Athene,  it  is  said,  invented  the  flute  out  of  a 
deer's  horn  and  played  before  the  gods,  but  her  grimaces  created 
such  ridicule  that  in  disgust  she  threw  the  instrument  away  and 
cursed  with  torture  whosoever  would  pick  it  up.  Marsyas  the 
satyr  found  it  and  having,  by  dint  of  much  practice,  attained 
great  proficiency,  he  boastfully  challenged  Apollo  to  a  contest 
in  which  the  muses,  as  judges,  awarded  the  palm  to  the  god, 
v/ho,  in  fulfilment  of  Athene's  curse,  proceeded  to  flay  his  de- 
feated adversary  alive.  Besides  being  a  performer  on  the  lyre 
and  the  flute,  Apollo  was  a  singer,  and,  in  short,  he  was  the 
god  of  all  music  and  of  the  allied  art  of  poetry.  Bards  drew  their 
inspiration  from  him,  and  it  was  he  who  impelled  the  priests 
and  priestesses  of  the  oracles  to  cast  their  utterances  into 
measured  language  having  the  form,  if  not  always  the  spirit, 
of  poetry.  Before  the  assemblies  of  the  gods  he  led  the  chorus 
of  the  Muses,  and  in  certain  late  philosophical  beliefs  the  har- 
mony not  only  cf  the  movements  of  the  sun  but  also  of  the 
universe  was  attributed  to  him.  No  straining  of  the  fancy  is 
required  to  follow  him  as  he  advances  from  this  exalted  posi- 
tion of  abstract  thought  to  the  lordship  of  all  social  harmony. 

The  recognition  of  Apollo  as  Helios  was  early  but  not  original, 
and  may  have  arisen  from  Oriental  influences;^  and  from  this, 
perhaps,  came  the  conception  of  his  long  fair  hair,  while  either 
here  or  in  his  affiliation  with  Artemis  lies  the  origin  of  his 
arrows. 

In  spite  of  his  dexterity  with  the  bow,  he  was  never  tech- 


m 


U 


:iJ 


i^l 


.1, 


r 


III 


I; 


l^ 


'  If 
Hfli- 


■  rs-l    :  •- 


1 82         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

nically  a  god  of  war,  being,  on  the  contrary,  consistently  just 
as  he  was  represented  on  the  western  pediment  of  the  temple 
of  Zeus  at  Olympia,  the  exponent  of  peace  and  civilization  as 
opposed  to  the  ceaseless  strife  of  barbarism. 

Apollo  in  Art.  —  In  representing  Apollo  archaic  art  borrowed 
from  the  epic  the  feature  of  the  unshorn  hair,  and  added  it 
to  the  rough  fetishistlc  images  of  the  god  in  order  to  produce 
bodily  reality.  From  this  was  easily  evolved  the  type  of  the 
best  period,  a  type  which  wc  must  forbear  from  reading  into 
the  epic.  Here  Apollo  was  depicted  as  a  young  man  in  his 
prime,  nude  or  lightly  clad,  standing  or  striding.  Sometimes 
he  wears  ?  long  flowing  cloak  or  a  tunic,  and  the  bow,  the  zither, 
and  the  twig  of  laurel  in  the  hair  are  almost  constant  attributes, 
singly  or  jointly. 

ARTEMIS 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Artemis.  —  Artemis  may  have 
originated  among  the  Greeks,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  among 
Phrygians  or  other  barbarians,  and  later  have  received  a 
Greek  name.  Conjectures  as  to  her  primeval  functions  are 
sharply  divided,  the  two  aspects  selected  by  opposing  schools 
as  the  oldest  being,  first,  that  in  which  she  interests  herself 
in  the  life  of  the  wild,  and,  secondly,  that  in  which  she  appears 
as  a  destroyer  of  life.  Her  cult-title  Meleagros  ("Hunter  of 
Members")  is  thought  to  describe  her  as  the  demon  of  a  dis- 
ease, perhaps  of  leprosy,  which  slowly  devours  the  members  of 
the  body.  By  a  very  natural  converse  manner  of  reasoning 
the  one  who  could  destroy  could  also  arrest  the  process  of 
destruction  and  could  heal.  Yet  for  Artemis  to  acquire  from 
these  functions  her  dominion  over  the  wilJ,  we  must  admit, 
taxes  the  fancy  and  reason,  so  that  it  seems  much  more  prob- 
able that  a  divinity  who  has  oversight,  among  other  things,  of 
wild  plants  with  medicinal  properties,  would  become  a  divinity 
of  healing,  and  that,  once  the  capacity  of  curing  disease  was 
established,  the  converse  process  of  argument  would  explain 


PLATE   XLII 
Artemi!> 

No  inscription  it  needed  to  mark  this  statue  as  that 
of  the  "  Lady  of  the  Beasts."  On  her  head  rests  an 
elaborate  crown  on  the  top  of  which  is  a  perforated 
border  of  animal  figures,  while  the  band  passing  ob- 
liquely over  her  breast  is  ornamented  with  a  some- 
what similar  design  in  relief.  As  the  goddess  steps 
slowly  forward  she  allows  »  playful  fawn  to  suck  the 
fingers  of  her  right  hand.  From  a  Roman  copy  of  a 
Greek  type  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  in  Munich 
(Brunn-Bruckmann,  DtnimiiUr  griechischer  und  rim- 
ischer  Scuiptur,  No.  562). 


THE  GREATER  GODS —  ARTEMIS     183 

a  capacity  for  destruction.  At  any  rate,  lier  cult  must  be  very 
old,  exhibiting,  as  it  docs,  remnants  of  totemism  in  the  ritual 
eating  of  the  goddess  in  the  flesh  of  a  quail  or  of  a  bear,  as  well 
as  traces  of  human  sacrifice  in  the  slaughter  of  strangers  in 
the  land  of  the  Taurians.  Although  Artemis  enjoyed  a  pan- 
Hellenic  cult,  the  oldest  Hellenic  conception  of  h..  was  Boio- 
•..'Tfi,  )'et  her  matured  personality  is  not  purely  Hellenic,  for 
her  alie.i  characteristics  are  many.  The  Artemis  of  Ephesos, 
for  in;.iance,  is  a  hybrid  of  the  Great  Mother,  the  maternal 
principle  of  nature,  and  the  original  Greek  goddess;  and  she 
not  only  acquired  traits  from  the  Cretan  Rhea,  but  was 
identified  with  the  barbarian  Diktynna,  Britomartis,  Bendis, 
Anaitis,  Astarte,  and  Atargatis.  The  source  of  her  association 
with  Apollo  is  unknown,  though  some  accidental  local  con- 
tact may  be  suspected.  Her  appellation  appears  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  root  of  the  name  Arkadia,  but  we  are  in  the 
dark  as  to  its  meaning. 

Artemis  in  Homer.  —  Artemis  takes  next  to  no  part  in  the 
action  of  the  Homeric  poems,  most  mentions  of  her  being 
merely  allusions  to  her  activities  in  the  various  localities  in 
Hellas  prior  to  the  Trojan  War.  Her  personality  is  marked  by 
three  outstanding  features:  she  is  a  huntress  and  the  mistress  of 
wild  life,  a  bringer  of  sudden  death,  and  the  virgin  sister  of 
Apollo.  Through  instruction  received  from  her  the  Trojan 
Skamandros  learned  to  hunt  the  beasts  of  hill  and  woodland, 
and  she  herself  was  said  to  roam  the  ranges  of  Taygetos  and 
Erymanthos  "delighting  in  the  wild  boars  and  swift  hinds." 
She  was  the  slayer  of  Orion,  of  a  daughter  of  Bellerophon, 
and  of  the  daughters  of  Niobe;  and  when  women  died  a  sudden 
but  peaceful  death,  people  said  that  they  were  the  victims  of  her 
swift  arrows. 

The  Functions  of  Artemis.  —  The  traits  which  have  just 
been  mentioned,  with  others  added,  still  cling  to  Artemis  in 
the  field  of  myth  beyond  Homer,  while  her  relation  to  the  vast 
tracts  beyond  the  settlements  of  men  can  be  observed  in  her 


ijih 


1 84 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   M\THOLOGY 


almost  certain  identity  with  Kallisto,  Atalante,  the  mountain- 
njniph  Taygcte,  and  Kyrcnc,  under  whose  name  slic  became 
the  mother  of  Aristaios  by  Apollo.  The  Keryneian  doe,  which 
Heraklcs  captured  alive,  was  sacred  to  her,  and  for  killing 
another  of  her  sacred  hinds  Agamemnon  was  sorely  punished 
and  his  fleet  was  detained  at  Aulis  by  head  winds,  while  it 
was  she  who  placed  a  hind  on  the  Aulid  altar  in  lieu  of  the  in- 
nocent Iphigeneia.  Kallisto  in  the  form  of  a  bear  fell  before 
her  bow,  and  the  unerring  spear  and  dog  were  given  to  Prokris 
through  her  good  will,  if  we  follow  a  particular  version  of  the 
legend.  One  of  her  shrines,  we  are  told,  was  surrounded  by  a 
veritable  zoological  garden,  and  in  her  capacity  as  protectress 
of  such  collections  may  perhaps  be  found  the  origin  of  her 
common  epithet  "Lady  of  the  Beasts."  Of  the  birds  the  quail, 
the  partridge,  the  guinea-fowl,  and  the  swallow  were  intimately 
related  to  her  cult,  but  only  rarely  did  domestic  animals,  like 
the  horse,  the  ox,  and  the  sheep,  come  within  the  scope  of 
her  supervision,  although  in  this  connexion  we  may  call  to 
mind  the  failure  of  Atreus  to  keep  his  promise  to  sacrifice  to 
her  the  golden  lamb.  With  all  beasts  her  protecting  func- 
tions come  first  and  the  destroying  second.  As  a  huntress  and 
in  her  general  oversight  of  wild  nature  she  contracted  affilia- 
tions with  Dionysos  and  the  Maenads  and  was  thought  to  be 
the  same  as  the  Cretan  Diktynna,  while  in  the  old  Boiotian 
culture  she  was  held  to  be  the  hunting  partner  of  Orion, 
together  with  whom  she  shot  her  sharp  arrows  at  man  and 
beast  alike.  Not  unnaturally  she  was  a  goddess  of  plant  life, 
primarily  that  of  the  untilled  lands,  the  trees  of  the  forest,  for 
instance,  being  sacred  to  her;  yet  she  must  also  have  had  an 
interest  in  the  plants  of  tillage,  else  the  stories  of  her  pique  at 
the  harvest-home  sacrifices  of  Oineus  and  Admetos  have  no 
point. 

As  the  goddess-physician,  Artemis  had  broad  functions,  and 
no  hard  and  fast  line  can  be  drawn  about  the  kinds  of  ailments 
under  her  control.     Malarial  chills,  leprosy,  rabies,  gout,  epi- 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — ARTEMIS 


i8S 


l;i 


lepsy,  phthisis,  and  mental  diseases  are  all  mentioned  as  com- 
ing within  the  range  of  her  activities,  and  she  even  undertook 
to  heal  snake  bites.  Her  methods  of  treatment  savour  strangely 
of  magic,  particularly  of  that  branch  known  as  homoeopathic, 
a  circumstance  which  may  be  counted  as  good  proof  of  her 
antiquity  as  a  healer.  The  quail,  partridge,  guinea-fowl,  goat, 
swine,  and  the  fabulous  hippocamp  were  included  in  her  materia 
medica;  and,  among  plants,  the  juniper,  and  the  white  and 
the  black  hellebore,  the  healing  property  in  all  these  being 
Artemis  herself,  who,  counteracting  the  power  of  x\rtemis 
the  cause  of  the  disease,  effected  a  cure  by  virtue  of  the 
famous  principle  (hen'  to  be  interpreted,  of  course,  in  a 
magical  sense)  of  similia  similibus  c  .  antur  ("like  is  cured  by 
like").  Bathing  in  certain  lakes  and  streams  near  her  shrines, 
as  in  the  Alpheios  of  Elis,  was  supposed  to  remove  some  dis- 
eases, the  process  to  be  understood  obviously  being  that  of 
magical  ablution.  It  was  apparently  through  her  contact  with 
magic  that  she  entered  into  connexion  with  Hekate. 

One  of  the  oldest  powers  of  Artemis  was  that  of  expediting 
the  delivery  of  women  in  child-birth,  and  by  a  contradictory 
manner  of  reasoning  no  longer  strange  to  us,  she  was  also 
regarded  as  both  bringing  and  healing  puerperal  fever.  In 
her  exercise  of  these  functions  one  can  see  why  she  was  so 
closely  bound  to  Leto. 

The  icy  chastity  of  Artemis  has  long  been  proverbial,  yet 
it  is  a  tact  that  only  in  myth  was  she  endowed  with  this  trait, 
for  no  traces  of  it  are  to  be  found  in  her  public  cults.  The 
myths  which  record  her  puritanical  reject-on  of  the  almost 
innocently  unchaste  Prokris,  her  inordinate  punishment  of  the 
peeping  Aktaion,  and  her  well-nigh  Pharisaic  patronage  of  the 
precocious  Hippolytos  have  the  air  of  being  comparatively 
late  attempts  to  cloak  an  originally  unmoral  character  with 
moral  attributes  —  to  make  a  virtue  out  of  an  accident;  but 
her  chastity  is  inconsistent  with  her  great  interest  in  maternity 
and  with  her  impersonation  by  Atalante  and  others. 


Hi 


III 


)  i 


i!     ' 


fir 


f{ 


1 86 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   M\THOLOGY 


Artemis  had  a  number  of  miscellaneous  attributes  'vhich 
\vc  can  only  mention  here.  On  r  ir,-  occasions  she  appears  as  a 
watcr-poddess,  being  invoked  instance,  in  the  search  for 

springs,  while  as  a  protcctn  of  travellers  and  emigrants 
she  seems  to  have  absorbed  some  of  the  duties  of  Apollo. 
In  the  story  of  Iphigeneia  at  Aulis  she  exercised  control  over 
the  conditions  of  the  weather,  and  although  she  was  not  equated 
with  the  moon  until  a  comparatively  late  period,  this  identi- 
fication has  become  one  of  her  ineradicable  marks  in  poetry. 
The  links  binding  her  to  the  higher  intellectual  and  social  life 
arc  slender,  yet  they  exist.® 

Artemis  in  Art.  —  One  of  the  two  oldest  types  of  Artemis 
delineates  her  with  spreading  wings  and  as  holding  a  lion  in  her 
hand,  while  the  other  shows  her  between  two  lions,  both  of 
these  forms  exhibiting  Asiatic  influence.  The  fully  developed 
Artemis  of  art  is  a  huntress,  just  emerging  from  maiden- 
hood into  womanhood,  equipped  with  bow  and  quiver,  and 
followed  by  one  or  more  dogs. 


HE KATE 

The  greater  prevalence  of  the  cults  of  Hekate  in  the  northern 
districts  of  Greece,  her  resemblance  to  the  goddess  Bendis  of 
Thrace,  and  certain  other  features  point  convergently  toward 
some  northern  land  as  her  first  home.  If  she  were  actually  of 
Hellenic  origin,  her  cult  must  have  died  out  and  after  a  long 
period  have  been  revived  at  the  very  th.cshold  of  the  histor- 
ical era.  Her  name  may  be  a  Greek  -jquivalent  of  some  title 
borne  by  her  in  her  native  habitat;  it  appears  to  be  connected 
with  e/ca?  ("far")  and  may  be  a  short  form  of  e/coTT^/SoXo?, 
designating  her  as  the  "Far-Shooter"  or  as  "the  one  who  comes 
from  afar." 

Hekate  was  grudged  free  entry  into  the  domain  of  myth 
and  was  denied  an  established  pedigree  —  facts  which  cast 
suspicion  on  her  alleged  Greek  nativity.  In  Hesiod  she  was  the 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — HEKATE 


187 


daughter  of  the  Titan  Pcrses  and  Astoria,  and  in  Mousaios, 
the  daughter  of  Zeus  and  Astoria.  A  Thessalian  myth  speaks 
of  Admctos  and  a  woman  of  Pherai  as  her  parents,  although 
elsewhere  her  mother  was  said  to  be  Night  or  Leto.  Strangely, 
no  stock  looks  back  to  her  as  its  divine  forcmother,  and  Homer 
seems  to  have  been  ignorant  of  her,  for  otherwise  her  strong 
connexion  with  the  underworld  would  have  necessitated  a  men- 
tion of  her  in  the  description  of  the  descent  of  Odysseus  to 
Hades.  In  one  acount  of  the  war  of  the  gods  and  giants, 
however,  Hekate  kids  the  giant  Klytios  with  burning  brands. 

In  the  Theogony  of  Hesiod  Hekate  is  already  a  fully  formed 
and  fully  endowed  divinity  exercising  control  equally  over 
heaven,  earth,  and  sea;  but  the  very  extravagance  of  the  attri- 
butions brands  the  passage  as  almost  certainly  an  interpola- 
tion, composed  by  a  defender  of  her  cult  when  it  was  yet  new 
in  Boiotia.  Her  most  conspicuous,  and,  perhaps,  her  original, 
function  was  chthonic.  Among  the  goddesses  she  stands  in 
substantially  the  same  relation  to  sorcery  and  necromancy  as 
does  Hermes  among  the  gods,  and  in  myth  Medeia  is  one  of 
her  priestesses.' 

To  modern  readers  Hekate  is  best  known  as  the  original 
"Diana  of  the  Crossways,"  and  she  was  supposed  to  drive  evil 
influences  away  from  crossways,  doors,  and  gates.  To  retain 
her  favour,  or  to  placate  her  anger  and  that  of  the  hordes  of 
revenants  which  trooped  after  her,  people  used  to  make  offer- 
ings to  her  (commonly  known  as  "Hekate's  suppers")  at  the 
forks  of  roads,  her  special  haunts,  these  being  given  at  night 
under  a  new  moon,  and  consisting  of  foods  prepared  according 
to  a  ritual  bill  of  fare. 

Not  until  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.  was  Hekate 
established  as  the  moon-goddess,  an  identity  which  she  doubt- 
less acquired  and  maintained  through  the  insecure  position  of 
Selene  (the  lunar  divinity  proper)  in  popular  belief.  This  fea- 
ture and  her  connexion  with  child-birth  she  held  in  common 
with  Artemis. 


m< 


i88 


GREEK  AND  ROMAX  MYTHOLOGY 


The  most  widely  disseminated  type  of  Hckate  in  art  is  one 
that  goes  back  to  the  image  made  for  her  shrine  at  the  entrance 
to  the  Athenian  Acropolis,  over  which  she  had  surveillance. 
This  portrays  her  as  having  three  bodies,  all  back  to  back 
one  facing  forward  and  the  other  two  to  the  left  and  right 
respectively.  In  the  outer  hands  of  the  side  figures  are  held  a 
pitcher  and  a  deep  sacrificial  saucer,  while  each  of  the  remain- 
ing four  hands  grasps  a  torch.  It  was  probably  in  this  form 
capable  of  looking  three  ways  at  once,  that  she  was  popularly 
conceived  as  the  divine  protectress  of  cross-roads. 


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PLATE  XLIII 

An   Attic    Hekataion 

The  central  feature  of  this  attractive  group  is  the 
tall  plain  column,  a  primitive  symbol  of  Artemis- 
Hekate.  With  their  hacks  to  this  as  at  the  three 
points  of  an  equilateral  triangle  stand  three  similar 
figures,  stiffly  architectural  in  character,  of  Hekate 
Phosphoros.  Each  is  crowned  with  a  lofty  polos  and 
holds  two  torches  bolt  upright  at  her  sides.  Around 
this  group,  in  marked  contrast  in  style  as  well  as  in 
stature,  is  a  ring  of  three  Charites,  all  alike,  dancing 
lightly  and  gracefully  hand  in  hand.  From  a  small 
marble  of  the  late  fifth  or  early  fourth  century  b.c, 
in  the  collection  of  Heinrich  Graf  Lemberg  of  Austria- 
Hungary  (JHJI  xiii,  Plate  IV). 


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CHAPTER  IV 
THE  GREATER  GODS  — ARF^ 

r'lIE  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Ares.  —  So  obscure  is  the  origin 
of  Arcs  that  we  arc  scarcely  in  a  position  even  to  entertair 
a  suspicion  as  to  whether  he  came  from  within  or  from  without 
Hellas.  Certainly  his  cult  was  most  deeply  rooted  in  Boiotia 
and  farther  north,  yet  this  cannot  be  taken  as  an  indication  of 
origin,  since  we  cannot  prove  that  he  had  been  established  here 
longer  than  elsewhere.  His  name  has  a  Hellenic  cast,  but  it 
cannot  be  satisfactorily  derived,  although  it  appeals  strongly 
to  the  imagination  to  connect  it  with  apd,  "a  curse."  By 
that  token  war,  the  province  of  Ares,  would  be  the  curse  par 
excellence. 

Ares  in  Homer.  —  Throughout  Homer  Ares  is  the  only  god 
whose  one  thought  and  task  it  is  to  wage  war,  yet  it  is  not 
the  strategic  element  for  which  he  stands,  but  rather,  as  one 
writer  aptly  puts  it,  the  blind  berserker-rage  of  battle.  Beat- 
ing wildly  about  him  with  his  blade,  he  achieves  but  little  glory 
before  Troy,  although,  unlike  any  other  god,  he  does  succeed 
in  slaying  some  mortals  with  his  own  hand.  He  is  sorely 
wounded  by  the  hero  Diomedes,  and  in  his  great  pain  bellows 
like  an  army  ten  thousand  strong,  while  Homer  says  that  Otos 
and  Ephialtes,  the  stalwart  sons  of  Aloeus,  once  bound  him  in 
a  bronze  vessel  for  thirteen  months,'  and  in  a  conflict  among 
the  gods  he  is  overthrown  by  Athene.  He  is  as  fickle  as  he  is 
blustering,  one  moment  favouring  the  Greeks  and  the  ne.xt  in- 
stant lending  aid  to  the  Trojans.  He  is  the  son  of  Zeus  and 
Hera,  and  his  father  takes  pains,  perhaps  facetiously,  to  let 
it  be  known  that  his  love  of  brawling  is  purely  a  maternal 
inheritance.     His    brother    is   Eris   ("Strife"),   and  Deimos 


S'i 


IQO 


GRF.F.K  AND   ROMAN   MYTMOLCKIY 


("Panic")  and  Phobos  ("Fear")  are  his  stccc  s.  Soldiers  are 
Iviiown  as  his  servants  and  the  bolder  heroes  as  his  sons;  and 
by  metonymy  his  name  often  stands  for  war  or  the  spirit  of 
strife  in  arms.  Homer  records  that  he  was  detected  in  an  in- 
trigue with  Aphrodite. 

.Iri's  oiitsiJt-  of  llonii-r.  —  Although  Ares  generally  passed  as 
the  son  of  Zeus  and  Hera,  one  account,  apparently  of  ancient 
origin,  made  him  the  unfathered  ofTspring  of  Hera  alone  after 
she  had  become  impregnated  by  plucking  a  certain  flower 
(the  parallel  instance  of  the  conception  of  Hebe  will  naturally 
occur  to  us  here).  We  have  already  seen  how,  in  the  Attic  cycle 
of  myths,  Ares  became  associated  with  Areopagos  through 
Alkippe,  his  daughter  by  Aglauros,  and  through  the  group  of 
his  professionally  belligerent  daughters,  the  Amazons.  All  of 
his  children  reflect  his  character  in  some  way:  Enyeus,  the 
king  of  Skyros,  was  his  son  by  Ariadne;  Lykourgos,  who  drove 
the  votaries  of  Dionysos  into  the  sea,  Kyknos  the  wrestler, 
and  the  Bistonian  Diomedes  were  other  ofTspring;  Harmonia, 
the  unhappy  mother  of  a  strife-rent  family,  was  borne  to  him 
by  Aphrodite;  and  the  Theban  dragon  slain  by  Kadmos  was 
also  his  issue.  Prior  to  the  great  assault  agamst  the  city  of 
Thebes,  the  Seven  Generals  of  the  Argive  host  took  the  oath 
binding  them  to  a  united  cause  by  dipping  their  hands  in  bull's 
blood  caught  in  the  hollow  of  a  shield  as  they  pronounced  the 
names  of  Ares,  Enyo,  and  Phobos.  The  ethical  influence  of 
Ares  was  negative  and  therefore  slight,  and  depended  entirely 
on  the  inference  that  his  scant  popularity  must  indicate  general 
disapproval  of  his  works  and  character. 

Ares  in  Art.  —  An  ideal  type  of  Arcs  in  art  was  apparently 
never  definitely  established.  In  the  earlier  period  he  is  generally 
shown  on  vases  as  a  fully  armed  and  bearded  warrior;  there 
are  several  types  in  extant  statuary  bearing  the  influence  of 
the  later  period,  the  best  known  being  the  so-called  Borghese 
Ares  of  the  Louvre,  where  he  is  a  nude  youth  wearing  a  helmet 
and  gazing  dreamingly  before  him. 


CHAPTER   V 
THE  GREATER  GODS  — HERMES 

rIE  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Hermes.  —  Hermes  was  found 
in  all  Hellenic  communities,  but  the  part  which  he  played 
was  relatively  inferior.  Only  in  two  or  three  localities  had  his 
cult  any  deep  foundation  in  the  history  and  thought  of  the 
people,  and  in  Arkadia  alone  was  he  accounted  a  divine  an- 
cestor. Although  his  name  seems  to  be  Greek  in  external 
form,  it  has  not  yielded  to  investigators  any  radical  connexion 
with  the  Greek  language,  and,  a  fortiori,  any  meaning  consistent 
with  the  character  of  Hermes.  Scholars  are  practically  unani- 
mous in  their  belief  that  the  deity  is  not  Hellenic,  and  most  of 
the  theories  which  they  venture  to  make  point  to  the  east,  a 
very  recent  theory,'  supported,  as  it  is,  by  the  tangible  evi- 
dence of  the  monuments,  making  it  almost  certain  that  Hermes 
and  his  distinctive  attribute,  the  caduccus,  came  to  Hellas,  ap- 
parently by  a  circuitous  path,  from  the  Mesopotamian  valley. 

Hermes  in  Homer.  —  Homer  alludes  to  Hermes  as  the  son 
of  Maia,  but  fails  to  state  the  name  of  his  father.  The  god  is 
already  endowed  with  the  individuality  that  marks  him  in 
later  centuries.  He  is  the  herald  and  messenger  of  the  gods; 
it  is  he  who  communicates  to  Kalypso  the  command  of  Zeus 
to  free  Odysseus  and  who  bears  the  sceptre  from  Zeus  to  Pelops; 
and  by  him  Priam  is  safely  escorted  to  the  encampment  of  the 
Greeks.  His  conduct  of  the  slain  suitors  to  the  halls  of  Hades 
is  the  only  instance  in  Homer  of  his  function  as  the  marshal 
of  departed  souls.  The  converse  of  this  aspect  is  seen  in  the 
assistance  which  he  gives  to  Heraklcs  to  return  from  the  lower 
to  the  upper  world.    As  the  patron  of  thieves  he  confers  on 


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192  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

Autolykos,  the  maternal  grandfather  of  Odysseus,  the  allied 
gifts  of  thievery  and  falsehood,  and  he  is,  moreover,  the  special 
divinity  of  servants  and  the  giver  of  wealth. 

Myths  of  the  Birth  and  Boyhood  of  Hermes.  —  A  summary  of 
the  Homeric  Hymn  to  Hermes  will  give  us  the  best  conspectus 
of  the  later  Greek  ideas  of  Hermes.  After  dalliance  with  Zeus 
"in  love  not  quite  legitimate,"  the  nymph  Maia  bore  Hermes 
in  a  cavern  on  Mount  Kyllene  in  Arkadia.  Even  for  a  god  the 
child  was  extraordinarily  precocious,  for,  during  the  morning 
of  the  very  day  of  his  birth,  he  walked  unaided  out  of  the  grotto, 
inquisitive  to  see  what  the  world  was  like.  Immediately  he 
espied  a  tortoise,  and,  with  divine  intuition,  perceiving  in  it 
possibilities  as  yet  undreamed  of,  he  killed  the  creature,  re- 
moved its  shell,  and  fitted  it  with  a  bridge  and  seven  taut 
strings  of  sheep-gut.  Thus  he  created  the  lyre. 

"  When  he  had  wrought  the  lovely  Instrument, 
He  tried  the  chords,  and  made  diversion  meet 
Preluding  with  the  plectrum,  and  there  went 
Up  from  beneath  his  hand  a  tumult  sweet 
Of  mighty  sounds,  as  from  his  lips  he  sent 
A  strain  of  unpremeditated  wit 
Joyous  and  wild  and  wanton  —  such  you  may 
Hear  among  revellers  on  a  holiday." ' 

At  the  end  of  his  song  a  strange  desire  for  fresh  meat  tickled 
his  infant  palate,  and  descending  quickly  from  Kyllene  he 
came  to  the  lands  where  the  cattle  of  Apollo  were  grazing. 
Picking  out  fifty  heifers,  he  cunningly  reversed  their  hoofs, 
and,  himself  walking  backward,  drove  them  away  through  the 
night  to  the  banks  of  the  river  Alpheios,  where  he  invented  the 
art  of  making  fire  by  rubbing  two  sticks  of  laurel-wood  together, 
after  which  he  slew  two  of  the  heifers  and  offered  a  burnt  sacri- 
fice. At  daw-n  he  stealthily  returned  home,  and  wrapping 
his  swaddling-clothes  about  him  lay  down  in  his  cradle  like  a 
babe  utterly  innocent  of  all  guile.  Nevertheless,  he  could 
not  deceive  Maia,  who  was  as  watchful  as  any  human  mother, 
and  at  her  words  of  rebuke  he  confessed  his  wrong-doing,  but 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — HERMES 


193 


announced  that  it  was  only  the  first  of  a  programme  of  acts 
which  he  had  planned  to  carry  out  in  order  to  achieve  a  place 
of  distinction  among  the  immortals.  Soon  afterward  Apollo 
appeared,  having  traced,  though  with  difficulty,  the  reversed 
footsteps  to  the  cavern;  but  when  he  charged  Hermes  with  the 
theft  of  the  cattle,  the  infant  blandly  denied  it. 

"An  ox-stealer  should  be  both  tall  and  strong, 

And  I  am  but  a  little  newborn  thing, 
Who,  yet  at  least,  can  think  of  nothing  wrong: 

My  business  is  to  suck,  and  sleep,  and  fling 
The  cradle-clothes  about  me  all  day  long. 

Or,  half  asleep,  hear  my  sweet  mother  sing. 
And  to  be  washed  in  water  clean  and  warm. 

And  hushed  and  kissed  and  kept  secure  from  harm."  * 

His  denial  availed  him  nothing,  however,  for  Apollo  haled  him 
away  to  the  judgement-seat  of  Zeus  on  Olympos,  where  the  king 
of  the  gods  patiently  listened  to  their  statements,  and  highly 
amused  at  Hermes'  transparent  lies  dismissed  them  both  with 
the  advice  "to  compose  the  affair  by  arbitration."  Departing 
from  Olympos,  they  came  to  the  scene  of  Hermes'  sacrifice. 
The  evidences  of  the  slaughter  of  his  beasts  enraged  Apollo, 
but  he  was  soon  appeased  by  the  unwonted  strains  of  music 
which  Hermes  drew  from  the  lyre.  Thereupon  they  compacted 
an  eternal  friendship  and  sealed  it  with  mutual  gifts,  Hermes 
presenting  the  lyre  to  Apollo  and  Apollo  in  his  turn  bestowing 
on  Hermes  the  golden  wand  of  wealth  and  a  lash  with  which 
to  exercise  dominion  over  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the  field. 

"Hermes  with  Gods  and  men  even  from  that  day 
Mingled,  and  wrought  the  latter  much  annoy, 
And  little  profit,  going  far  astray 
Through  the  dun  night."  * 

Hermes  Argeiphontes.  —  When  Hermes  was  bidden  to  re- 
lease the  tethered  lo,  he  approached  her  guardian  Argos,  and, 
after  putting  him  to  sleep  with  the  music  of  the  lyre,  cut 
out  his  many  eyes  with  his  curved  sword,  earning  for  himself 
by  this  deed,  it  was  popularly  said,  the  title  of  Argeiphontes 


194         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 
("\rgos-Slayer").    When  he  was  taken  before  a  court  and 
cquftted  of  the  charge  of  murder,  the  angry  gods  cas    the. 
voting  pebbles  at  him,  a  detail  which  seems  to  be  aet.olog.ca 
in  character  and  designed  to  explain  the  ongm  of  h^aps  of 
stones,  dedicated  to  Hermes,  which  were  often  found  bes.de  f re- 
quent  d  thoroughfares  and  to  which  each  wayfarer  added  h:s 
contribution  in  kind  as  he  passed  by.    Although  a  .s  customary 
nowadays  to  base  the  ,tory  of  the  slaying  of  Argos  on  a  mis- 
understanding of  Hermes'  title,  which  seems  really  to  mean 
"white-gleaming,"  it  would  probably  be  nearer  the  truth  to 
base  it  on  a  folk-belief  in  an  earth-born  monster,  who,  under  the 
control  of  Hermes,  stood  guard  over  souls  m  the  lower  ^M 
The  Functions  of  Hermes. -Ucrm.s  ^s  best  known  as  the 
conductor  of  departed  souls  to  Hades,  and,  conversely,  ne 
could  also  release  them  from  the  world  below.    Through  the 
di  charge  of  these  duties  he  first  of  all  became  connected  w.th 
necromancy,  or  conjuring  of  the  dead,  and  later,  m  consequence 
of  the  popular  classification  of  dream-orac  es  as  necroniant.c 
he  was  evolved  into  a  god  of  sleep  and  of  dreams,  developmg 
in  the  end,  out  and  out  into  a  deity  of  mag.c.  As  the  souls  of 
he  dead  c;uld  be  magically  committed  to  h.m  as  they  traversed 
the  highway  between  the  two  worlds,  so  too  could  the  soul   of 
the  living  be  guarded  by  him  as  they  went  their  ways  to  and 
t  upon'earth.    Hence  the  images  of  Hermes  at  cross-roads 
were  believed  to  avert  evil  from  travellers,  and  here  one  can 
ee  the  logic  of  his  frequent  association  with  Apollo,  Artem., 
and  Hekate.  As  god  of  the  highroad  it  was  na-ra  to  suppose 
that  he  himself  was  immune   from  the  penis  of   the  way, 
he  could,  therefore,  exercise  the  double  duty  of  P- -tmg 
heralds,  the  most  sacred  travellers  among  men,  and  of  h.msdf 
being  tLe  inviolate  herald  of  the  gods;  and  thus  he  was  an  ,m- 
nortant  figure  in  the  early  stages  of  international  law^Smce 
^1  e  herallmust  have  a  fluent  and  persuasive  tongue,  Herm 
became  the  god  of  oratory  and  speech  m  general.    No  one 
•o'nevs  as  much  as  he  who  travels  for  gain,  and  hence  Hermes 


i) 


■Mi 


PLATE  XLIV 

Hermes  and  the  Infant  Dionysos 

This  famous  statue  apparently  refers  to  the  Thcban 
legend  which  relates  that  Dionysos,  just  after  his  birth 
from  the  thigh  of  Zeus  and  prior  to  his  sojourn  with 
the  nymphs  of  Mount  Nysa,  was  put  in  the  saiV- 
keeping  of  Hermes.  Praxiteles  has  seized  on  this 
brief  period  as  the  supreme  moment  in  the  career  of 
Hermes  for  revealing  him  as  the  ideal  protector  of 
bovs  and  youths.  In  looking  upon  this  highly  spirit- 
ualized creation  one  forgets  that  this  god  was  the 
divine  prince  of  knaves  and  liars.  From  the  original 
marble  of  Praxiteles  (fourth  century  B.C.),  discovered 
in  the  Heraion  at  Olympia  (Brunn-Bruckmann,  Dink- 
miiler  griechiicher  und  rimischer  Sculptur,  No.  466). 


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THE  GREATER  GODS  — HERMES 


I9S 


accorded  a  special  protection  to  the  itinerant  trader  and  mer- 
chant. As,  however,  these  folk  were  not  noted,  to  say  the  least, 
for  their  straight  dealing,  it  was  not  strange  that  their  patron 
should  acquire  a  reputation  akin  to  theirs,  or  that  the  craft 
and  cunning  required  for  driving  a  profitable  one-sided  bargain, 
combined  with  Hermes'  gift  of  flitting  swiftly  and  safely  here 
and  there,  should  easily  exalt  him  to  the  infamous  position  of 
divine  prince  of  thieves  and  cutpurses,  while  it  is  equally  in- 
telligible that  the  invention,  as  well  as  the  abuse,  of  weights 
and  measures  should  have  been  assigned  to  him. 

As  a  pastoral  god  Hermes  became  in  Arkadian  myth  the 
father  of  Pan,  and  his  peculiar  alliance  with  Aphrodite  and 
certain  phallic  features  of  his  cult  stamp  him  as  the  producer 
of  fertility  in  males.  The  source  of  his  association  with  luck 
may  be  traceable  to  his  traditional  success  in  the  lists  of  love. 
Many  tales  connect  him  with  instrumental  music,  although  his 
role  in  this  sphere  is  subordinate  to  that  of  Apollo.  An  account 
of  the  invention  of  the  lyre  unlike  the  one  already  related  repre- 
sents him  as  changing  Chelone  into  a  tortoise-shell  and  then 
into  a  lyre  because  she  refused  to  come  to  the  nuptials  of 
Zeus  and  Hera.  Finally,  Hermes  was  the  patron  god  of  the 
palaestra  and  gymnasium  and  of  all  kinds  of  athletic  contests, 
and  was,  moreover,  to  the  young  men  the  model  of  physical 
strength  and  agility,  just  as  Apollo  was  their  ideal  of  high  in- 
tellectual attainment.^ 

Hermes  in  Art.  —  The  herm,  or  developed  fetish-form  of 
Hermes,  consists  of  a  tall  square  column  with  stumps  of  arms 
and  a  phallos,  and  is  surmounted  by  a  bearded  head,  but  we 
know  next  to  nothing  of  the  ideal  Hermes  of  the  fifth  century, 
though  he  was  sometimes  shown  as  a  well-matured  young 
man  with  a  short  beard  and  clad  in  a  chlamys.  Not  until  the 
time  of  Praxiteles  do  we  sec  him  as  a  youth,  nude  or  scantily 
garbed,  shod  with  the  winged  sandals.  The  herald's  staff  is  a 
constant  emblem,  other  attributes  being  the  chlamys  and  the 
travelling  hat. 


'7 


It; 
W 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  GREATER   GODS  — APHRODITE 
AND   EROS 

APHRODITE 

r'HE  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Aphrodite.  —  It  is  almost  im- 
possible to  doubt  that  Aphrodite  was  a  gift  of  the  Semitic 
world  to  the  Hellenic,  so  that  the  opinion,  now  entertained  by 
a  scant  few,  that  the  recent  excavations  in  Crete  show  her  to 
have  been  initially  a  purely  Aegean  creation  is  unfounded, 
since  the  discoveries  prove  no  more  than  the  great  antiquity 
of  a  divinity  who  strongly  resembled  her;  they  do  not  at  all 
remove  the  possibility  of  her  having  come  at  some  incalculably 
early  period  to  the  Aegean  isles  as  an  emigrant  from  the 
Phoinikian  coast.   Many  conceptions  of  Aphrodite  bear  marks 
of  her  Oriental  nativity,  and  we  may  point  out  a  few  of  them 
by  way  of  example.  Her  main  functions  were  the  same  as  those 
of  the  great  Astarte,  or  Ishtar,  and  substantially  the  same  ob- 
jects in  nature  were  sacred  to  them  both,  while  each  was  repre- 
sented in  the  heavens  by  the  planet  Venus,  and  Aphrodite's 
epithet  Ourania  ("Heavenly")  seems  to  be  an  echo  of  the  East- 
ern Queen  of  the  Heavens.    Further,  the  allusions  in  art  and 
literature   to  Aphrodite's   birth   from   a   mussel-shell   cannot 
but  remind  one  that  Astarte  was  the  patroness  of  the  industry 
which  produced  the  famous  purple.    In  her  relations  to  the 
sea  and  to  mariners  Aphrodite  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to 
the  goddess  of  the  Philistine  city  of  Joppa,  and  her  principal 
cult-centres,  Cyprus,  Crete,  and  Kythera,  had  direct  communi- 
cation with  the  eastern  coasts  through  their  situation  on  the 
main  sea-highways.    In  Thebes  alone  of  Greek  cities,  a  place 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  APHRODITE    197 

peculiarly  connected  with  the  East  in  legend,  was  she  vener- 
ated as  ancestress.  Unhappily,  the  name  of  Aphrodite  tells  us 
nothing  concerning  her  origin.  The  first  half  is  surely  con- 
nected with  the  Greek  a(f)pK,  "foam,"  but  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  second  we  must  admit  ignorance,  although,  in  con- 
formity with  certain  legends  of  her  birth,  the  name  was  popu- 
larly interpreted  as  "Foam-Born."' 

Aphrodite  in  Homer.  —  Homer  accepts  Aphrodite  as  the 
daughter  of  Zeus  and  Dione  (the  earth  goddess  of  Dodona), 
and  numbers  her  among  the  Olympians.  She  is  the  wedded 
wife  of  Hephaistos,  but  is  notoriously  unfaithful  to  her  vows. 
In  an  amour  with  Ares  she  was  caught  flagrante  delicto  by  her 
husband,  whose  wits  were  not  as  halting  as  his  feet;  and  by 
another  affaire  du  coeur,  with  Anchises,  she  became  the  mother 
of  Aineias.  She  is  the  golden  goddess  who  smiles  bewitchingly 
on  both  mortals  and  immortals,  and  her  loveliness  is  the  ideal 
of  all  beauty.  She  is  the  supreme  divinity  of  love  and  as  such 
is  not  suited  for  strife,  yet  she  essays  to  take  a  small  part  in 
the  great  war.  Since  it  was  she  who  had  put  it  into  the  heart 
of  Helen  to  leave  her  husband  and  go  with  Paris  to  Troy, 
she  favours  the  arms  of  the  Trojans  for  the  sake  of  being  con- 
sistent, and  snatches  both  Paris  and  Aineias  from  the  sword- 
point  of  the  enemy,  although  in  saving  her  son  she  is  wounded 
by  the  hand  of  Diomedes. 

Birth  and  Family  Relationships.  —  In  Hesiod,  Aphrodite  is 
said  to  have  sprung  into  being  from  the  contact  of  the  severed 
sexual  parts  of  Ouranos  with  the  sea  and  to  have  been  after- 
ward washed  ashore  on  Cyprus,  the  evident  purpose  of  this 
myth  being  to  account  in  one  breath,  as  it  were,  for  her  simul- 
taneous relation  to  the  life  of  the  sexes  and  to  the  sea.  Even 
after  Homer  she  was  considered  as  the  wife  of  Hephaistos,  and 
one  old  story  alludes  to  Eros  and  Hermes  as  the  issue  of  the 
union,  although  Harmonia  and  Aineias  were,  at  all  periods  of 
myth,  the  most  famous  of  her  children.  She  had  a  close 
affinity  with  the  Horai  ("Seasons,"  "Hours")  and  the  Charites 


11 

U| 

i 

I 


IF 


if' 
kv, 

iik 


,98    GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

("Graces").''  Ariadne,  Leukothca,  Galatcia,  and  even  her 
daughter  Harmonia,  as  well  as  certain  other  women  of  myth, 
are  to  be  regarded  as  her  doubles. 

Aphroditf  as  the  Goddess  of  Lo:r.  —  While  Demetcr  and  Dio- 
nysus were  associated  with  the  productive  potencies  of  nature, 
Aphrodite  was  concerned  with,  in  fact  was  embodied  in,  the 
reproductive  powers.  She  was  the  divine  personality  who 
brought  together  in  procreating  love  not  only  human  beings 
but  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and,  more- 
over, was  responsible  for  the  appearance  of  fresh  growths  and 
new  generations  of  plants.' 

In  the  Plant  World.  —  It  is  in  the  story  of  Adonis,  which  the 
Gr  As  borrowed  from  the  East  (the  name  Adonis  being  only 
a  Greek  adaptation  of  the  Semitic  form  of  address  adhbnl 
"lord"),  that  Aphrodite  most  clearly  appears  as  the  force 
which  promotes  vegetation.    A  certain  Assyrian  king,  the  tale 
runs,  had  a  daughter  named  Smyrna  (or  Myrrha),  whom,  be- 
cause of  her  continued  disdain  for  Aphrodite,  the  goddess  in 
anger  drove  to  commit  a  dreadful  sin  upon  her  father.   When 
he  learned  of  her  wickedness,  he  drew  a  sword  and  pursued 
her,  and  would  have  thrust  her  through  had  not  the  gods 
changed  her  into  a  myrrh-tree,  whose  bark  burst  open  nine 
months  later,  revealing  the  infant  Adonis.   Aphrodite  hid  him 
in  a  chest  and  entrusted  him  to  Persephone,  but  when  the  latter 
had  beheld  his  beauty,  she  refused  to  surrender  him,  whereupon 
the  two  goddesses  laid  their  dispute  before  Zeus,  who  uccreed 
that  Persephone  was  to  possess  the  youth  for  one  third  of  the 
year  and  Aphrodite  a  second  third,  during  the  remaining  four 
months  Adonis  was  to  be  free  to  do  as  he  would,  but  as  soon 
as  he  iicard  of  the  verdict,  he  gave  this  period  of  freedom 
to  Aphrodite  and  became  her  favourite.  While  yet  in  the  flower 
of  youth  he  was  slain  in  the  chase  by  a  wild  boar,  and  when 
Aphrodite   grieved   beyond   consoling,   from   his   blood   grew 
the   blossom  of  the  red  anemone.    This  graphic  portrayal  of 
the  cycle  of  conditions  through  which  vegetation  passes  in  the 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  APHRODITE 


199 


course  of  a  year  was  the  theme  of  certain  dramatic  acts  in 
the  worship  of  Aphrodite. 

Among  Men.  —  Aphrodite  would  brook  no  disobedience  to 
her  commands  to  love.  We  have  just  seen  how  she  punished 
Smyrna,  and  it  was  through  spurning  her  that  Hippolytos 
was  sent  lo  his  death.  So  imperiously  did  she  sway  Medeia, 
Hippodamcia,  and  Ariadne  that  they  abandoned  or  betrayed 
their  parents  to  cleave  to  their  lovers,  and  with  alluring  prom- 
ises she  bribed  the  allegiance  of  the  hesitating  Paris,  paying  the 
bribe  with  Helen  and  her  gold,  while  even  the  frigid  heart  of 
Atalante  was  melted  to  love  at  the  glitter  of  Aphrodite's  golden 
apples.  The  stories  of  others  who  yielded  to  her  spell  must 
now  engage  our  attention. 

The  author  of  the  Homeric  Hymn  to  Aphrodite  relates  how 
the  goddess  was  taken  with  a  great  desire  for  the  mortal  An- 
chises  of  Troy.  Entering  her  temple-home  in  Cyprian  Paphos, 
she  donned  a  robe  more  glittering  than  the  flame  of  fire  and, 
bedecking  herself  with  her  loveliest  jewels,  she  set  out  for 
Mount  Ida,  the  very  sight  of  her  subduing  to  love  the  hearts 
of  even  the  fiercest  beasts  of  the  wild  as  she  made  her  way 
up  the  green  slopes.  She  found  Anchises  alone  in  the  sheep- 
folds  and  through  the  eloquence  of  her  beauty  quickly  won  his 
affection,  Aineias  being  the  offspring  of  their  union.  For  many 
years  Anchises  observed  the  injunction  of  Aphrodite  to  tell 
no  man  of  their  son's  divine  descent,  but  one  day,  in  his  cups, 
he  made  the  secret  known  to  his  companions  and  was  stricken 
der^d  by  a  bolt  of  Zeus.  Certain  others  say  that  he  slew  himself 
with  his  own  hand,  while  Vergil,  as  we  shall  see,  has  still  an- 
other tale  to  tell.  Beside  this  story  of  Aineias  it  is  interesting 
to  place  one  of  Aphrodite's  cult-titles,  viz.,  Aineias,  a  term 
whose  meaning  is  lost  to  us.  It  may  perhaps  be  an  allusion 
to  the  hero,  and,  further,  the  original  Aineias  may  have  been 
a  priest  of  Aphrodite  whose  long  and  tiresome  journeying  from 
land  to  land  as  he  spread  the  cult  of  his  goddess  finally  became 
crystallized  into  a  great  myth. 


i 


iSi 


200 


GRKEK  AM'    ROMAN   MVTilOlXKIV 


The  legend  of  Pygmalion  and  Cialatria  I  .Jongs  t<i  the  cycle 
of  Aphrodite.  Pygmalion,  a  si  idptor  ol  Cyprus,  failing  to 
see  any  good  in  women,  vowid  himself  to  lifelong  celibacy. 
Vet,  like  most  misogynists,  he  still  cherished  in  his  heart  a 
high  ideal  of  vvomanh(x>d,  and  to  emb-dy  this  in  ph>  sical  form 
he  fashioned  a  beautiful  statue  ol  vory  which  fell  short  of 
perfection  onU  in  its  lack  of  spiritual  traits.  By  constant  g  .zing 
on  the  work  of  his  heart  and  hands  he  at  la^t  fell  in  1  )Ve  with 
it  and  would  fain  believe  it  was  actually  of  tlesh  and  blood,  and 
when  the  festival  of  Aphrodite  came  arouml,  otTering  the  cus- 
tomary sacrifices  to  the  goddess  and  standing  by  her  altar,  he 
raised  a  prayer:  — 

"O  Aphrodite,  kind  an  J  fair, 

That  what  iliou  wilt  canst  pive. 
Oh,  listen  to  a  sculpts'-  nraycr. 

And  Hid  my  image  uvc; 
For  me  the  ivory  and  L'old 

That  clothe  her  cedar  frame 
Are  beautiful,  indeed,  but  c^ld; 

Oh,  touch  them  with  thy  tlame!"* 

At  these  words  Aphrodite  made  the  flame  of  the  incense  shoot 
aloft  in  three  tongues  —  an  omen  of  her  good  will,  and  when, 
after  the  sacrifice,  Pygmalion  returned  to  his  house,  he  found 
his  image  endowed  with  the  endearing  charms  of  a  living 
woman.  She  was  given  the  name  of  Galatcia,  and  with  the 
favour  of  Aphrodite  was  wedded  to  the  man  whose  loving  heart 
had  conceived  her,  their  marriage  being  aftcr\"ard  blessed 
with  a  son  Paphos,  after  whom  the  famous  city  of  Cyprus  was 
named. 

This  cycle  also  includes  the  story  of  Phaon,  who  used  to 
ferry  travellers  back  and  forth  between  the  islands  of  Lesbos 
and  Chios.  One  day  Aphrodite,  in  the  guise  of  an  old  woman, 
entreated  of  him  to  give  her  in  her  poverty  a  free  passage,  and 
so  ungrudgingly  did  he  comply  with  the  request  that  she 
bestowed  a  magic  philtre  upon  him.  Anointing  himself  with 
this,  he  became  a  beautiful  youth  who  wakened  love  in  the 


0 


PLATE   XLV 


Eros 

"  He  is  springing  forward,  lightly  poised  on  the 
toes  of  his  right  foot.  The  left  arm  is  extended  for- 
ward and  holds  the  socket  of  a  torch;  the  right  is 
lowered  and  held  obliquely  from  the  body  with  fingers 
extended.  He  is  nude  and  winged,  the  feathers  of 
the  wings  being  indicated  on  the  front  side  by  incised 
lines.  His  hair  is  curly  and  short,  except  for  one 
tuft  which  is  gathered  about  the  centre  of  the  head 
and  braided. 

"This  famous  statue  is  one  of  the  finest  repre- 
sentations of  Eros  known.  The  artist  has  admirably 
succeeded  in  conveying  the  lightness  and  grace  asso- 
ciated in  our  minds  with  the  conception  of  Eros. 
Everything  in  the  figure  suggests  rapid  forward 
motion ;  but  this  is  attained  without  sacrificing  the 
perfect  balance  of  all  parts,  so  that  the  impression 
made  is  at  the  same  time  one  of  buoyancy  and  of 
restraint.  The  childlike  character  of  the  figure  is 
brought  out  in  the  lithe,  rounded  limbs  and  the  smil- 
ing, happy  face  "  (Miss  G.  M.  A.  Richter,  Greei, 
Etruscan  and  Roman  Bronzes  in  the  Metropolitan 
Aluseum  of  Art^  pp.  85-86).  From  a  Hellenistic 
bronze  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New 
York  {photograph).     See  pp.  203-04. 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  APHRODITE   201 


hearts  of  all  the  women  of  Lesbos,  and  to  him,  legend  says, 
Sappho  addressed  some  of  her  tenderest  and  most  beautiful 
songs. 

The  Eastern  tale  of  Pyramos  and  Thisbe,  borrowed  by  the 
Greeks,  also  reveals  the  old  belief  in  the  invincible  power  of 
Aphrodite.  Pyramos  was  the  most  handsome  youth  in  the 
kingdom  of  Semiramis,  and  Thisbe  the  most  beautiful  maiden, 
and  their  families  lived  in  houses  separated  only  by  a  party- 
wall.  Aphrodite  put  a  mutual  love  in  their  hearts,  but  their 
parents  forbade  their  marriage,  and,  what  is  more,  even  tried 
to  prevent  them  from  conversing  with  one  another.  Their 
passion,  however,  would  brook  no  obstacle,  and,  discovering  a 
crack  in  the  wall  between  the  two  houses,  unknown  to  their 
parents  they  spoke  sweet  messages  through  it,  until  at  length, 
filled  with  resolve  to  wed  at  all  costs,  they  arranged  that  they 
should  each  slip  out  of  their  homes  and  meet  that  evening  at 
a  certain  trysting-place.  Thisbe  came  first,  but  while  she  was 
awaiting  her  lover,  a  great  lioness,  her  jaws  dripping  with 
fresh  blood,  suddenly  approached  to  drink  from  a  neighbour- 
ing spring.  In  fear  Thisbe  turned  and  fled,  dropping  her  veil, 
which  the  lioness  tore  and  left  smeared  with  blood.  Reaching 
the  spot  a  few  minutes  later,  Pyramos  recognized  the  blood- 
stained veil  as  Thisbe's  and,  thinking  that  it  was  a  token  of 
her  death,  he  drew  his  sword  and  pierced  himself  through 
the  heart,  while  the  blood  from  his  wound  sank  into  the  ground 
and  passing  upward  to  the  white  berries  of  a  near-by  mulberry- 
tree  turned  them  to  a  deep  red.  As  Pyramos  writhed  on  the 
ground  in  the  throes  of  death,  Thisbe  returned,  the  sight  of 
her  veil  and  her  lover's  empty  scabbard  at  once  telling  the 
reason  of  the  dreadful  deed.  Drawing  the  sword  from  his  heart, 
she  plunged  it  into  her  own  and  passed  away  at  his  side;  and 
ever  since  the  fruit  of  the  mulberry  has  been  of  the  hue  of  blood. 

The  story  of  the  love  of  Hero  and  Leandros  (Leander) 
belongs  to  a  late  period  when  the  making  of  myths  was  a  more 
conscious  and  arbitrary  process  than  formerly  and  was  less 


ijfi 
III 


0.=^ 


202 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


closely  connected  with  religious  thought;  yet  it  deserves  con- 
sideration here  by  reason  of  its  implied  association  with 
Aphrodite  and  its  fame  in  literature.  In  Scstos,  on  the  Hel'-s- 
pont,  lived  a  beautiful  maiden  called  Hero,  who  used  to  tend 
the  sacred  birds  in  Aphrodite's  shrine;  and  in  Abydos,  on  the 
opposite  shore  of  the  strait,  dwelt  a  handsom'  outh  named 
Leandros.  When  the  time  came  for  celebrat  ..g  the  festival 
of  the  goddess  of  love,  Leandros  crossed  to  Scstos  to  take  part 
in  it.  In  the  midst  of  the  rites  it  chanced  that  he  and  Hero 
came  face  to  face,  and  at  the  first  glance  each  became  enam- 
oured of  the  other;  but  the  modest  maiden  would  allow  no 
more  than  words  to  pass  between  them,  for  she  had  vowed  to 
go  through  life  unweddcd.  Love,  however,  is  always  stronger 
than  discretion,  and  Hero's  resolution  at  last  weakened  so 
far  that  she  allowed  her  lover  to  meet  her  regularly  at  an  ap- 
pointed place.  By  night  she  would  stand  on  an  eminence  and 
hold  a  torch  aloft  to  guide  Leandros  as  he  swam  across  the 
Hellespont.  But  one  evening  a  tempest  arose,  and  thciigh 
the  youth  plunged  into  the  water  as  usual,  undaunted  by  the 
high  seas,  his  strength  gave  out  before  he  could  reach  the 
other  side  and  he  was  drowned.  His  body  was  flung  by  the 
waves  upon  the  shore  before  the  eyes  of  Hero,  who  in  the  frenzy 
of  her  sorrow  threw  herself  upon  his  lifeless  frame  and  died  of 
a  broken  heart. 

Two  of  the  cult-epithets  of  Aphrodite  in  Athens  were  Ourania 
and  Pandemos,  the  first  apparently  marking  a  transplantation 
of  the  worship  of  the  Semitic  Queen  of  the  Heavens,  while  the 
second  was  probably  a  manner  of  recording  the  worship  of 
Aphrodite  by  the  united  townships  of  Attike,  although  as 
early  as  Solon  it  was  understood  to  designate  the  goddess  as 
the  one  who  presided  over  popular  love.* 

Aphrodite  in  Art. — Through  three  or  four  centuries  the 
Greeks  were  slowly  evolving  an  ideal  type  of  Aphrodite. 
In  archaic  art  she  appears  fully  clothed,  generally  with  a  veil 
and   head-cloth,  and  with   one   hand   either  outstretched  or 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — EROS 


203 


pressed  on  her  bosom  and  holding  some  attribute  —  the  apple, 
pomegranate,  flower,  or  dove  —  while  the  other  hand  either 
falls  at  her  side  or  grasps  a  fold  of  her  garment.  Up  to  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century  the  full  clothing  of  her  figure  pre- 
dominates, although  even  as  soon  as  the  later  half  of  the  fifth 
century  parts  of  her  body  were  bared.  At  this  period  she  is 
depicted  as  without  passion,  though  capable  of  it;  but  it  was 
only  in  the  hands  of  the  Hellenistic  sculptors  that  she  lost  her 
dignity  of  pure  womanhood  and  became  sensuous  and  con- 
scious of  her  charms. 

EROS 

Eros,  the  frequent  companion  of  Aphrodite,  and  known  to 
the  Romans  as  Cupido  (Cupid),  does  not  appear  at  all  in 
Homer.  This,  however,  is  not  to  be  taken  as  an  indication  that 
he  was  a  later  creation,  for  his  prominence  in  the  theogonic 
literature,  notably  that  of  Hesiod,  points  to  his  existence  in 
the  old  daemonic  stratum  of  religious  thought.  His  parentage  is 
variously  given :  he  is  the  issue  of  Chaos,  or  is  hatched  from  the 
egg  of  Night;  he  is  the  son,  now  of  Ouranos  and  Gaia,  now  of 
Hermes  and  Artemis,  now  of  Iris  and  Zephyros;  again,  he  was 
begotten  by  Kronos,  or  born  of  Aphrodite.  As  far  back  as 
Hesiod  he  was  the  intimate  associate  of  the  goddess  of  love, 
and  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  lover  of  the  ocean-nymph 
Rhodope. 

Both  in  worship  and  in  the  popular  mind  Eros,  whose  oppo- 
site was  Anteros,  was  the  god  of  sexual  love,  and  in  several 
places  his  nature  became  coarsened  through  the  influence  of 
the  cult  of  Priapos.  He  was  attributed,  especially  in  the  later 
period,  with  the  power  of  firing  men  with  the  passion  of  love 
by  means  of  his  sharp  shafts  and  stinging  tongues  of  flame, 
but  his  personality  remained  practically  unchanged  for  many 
centuries,  except  in  the  field  of  philosophy,  where  he  was  held 
to  be  the  cosmic  force  of  attraction.  Although  Apuleius's  story 
of  Cupid  and  Psyche  was  based  on  a  developed  form  of  an 


Hi 
lit 


E  ■ 


204  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

old  Greek  folk-tale  possessing  a  religious  significance,  its  ex- 
cessive literary  elaboration  excludes  it  from  our  pages. 

Eros  is  generally  shown  by  the  artists  as  a  winged  boy  bear- 
ing bow  and  quiver;  and  among  his  commonest  attributes 
are  the  dolphin,  the  swan,  the  lyre,  and  the  mussel-shell. 


\'l 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  GREATER  GODS  —  HEPHAISTOS 
AND  HESTIA 

HEPHAISTOS 

CT*HE  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Hephaistos.  —  Whatever  may 
■^  have  been  the  precise  initial  conception  of  Hephaistos,  he 
was  certainly  held  by  the  Greeks  at  the  period  of  which  we  have 
clear  records  to  be  the  god  of  fire,  and  as  such  we  purpose  to 
classify  him  here,  his  connexion  with  the  manual  arts  being 
apparently  derived  from  the  many  uses  which  they  made  of 
fire.  Whether  he  was  Hellenic  or  not  in  origin,  we  cannot  ven- 
ture to  say,  but  the  most  plausible  explanation  of  his  name 
tentatively  links  it  with  the  bases  fa4>  and  ai$,  which  would 
yield  the  meaning  "quivering  flame." 

Hephaistos  in  Homer.  —  Homer  knows  Hephaistos  only  as 
the  son  of  Zeus  and  Hera,  and  in  the  epics  he  is  unequivocally 
the  god  of  fire,  and  at  times,  by  a  figure  of  speech,  is  fire  itself, 
while  partly  as  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  Achilles  and 
partly  as  a  free  agent  he  consumes  the  waters  of  the  ragi  ig 
Skamandros.  In  one  passage  he  is  married  to  one  of  the 
Graces,  but  in  another  he  is  the  husband  of  the  amorous 
Aphrodite,  who  openly  manifests  her  preference  for  the  more 
human  Ares.  Two  of  his  characteristics  stand  out  above  all 
the  others  —  his  physical  appearance  and  his  trade.  He  is 
everywhere  the  lame  god,  and  his  limp  is  a  constant  source  of 
laughter  among  his  fellows  on  Olympos.  Homer  is  aware  of 
two  accounts  concerning  the  cause  of  this  disability,  one  of 
which  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Hephaistos  himself.  "Once," 
he  says  warningly  to  Hera,  "he  [i.  e.  Zeus]  caught  me  by  the 


206         C]REEK   AND   ROMAN   iM\THOLOGY 

foot  and  hurled  nu-  from  the  heavenly  threshold;  all  day   1 
flew,  and  at  the  set  of  sun  I  fell  in  Lcmnos,  and  little  life  was  in 
me.    There  did  the  Sintian  folk  tend  me  for  my  fall."  '    The 
other  version  is  that  which  will  be  given  under  the  next  heading 
Hepha.stos  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  only  craftsman  on 
O  ympos,  and  the  works  of  his  hands  arc  many  and  wonderful. 
The  greatest  of  these  was,  perhaps,  the  aegis  of  Zeus,  although 
he  also  bu.lt  the  houses  of  the  gods  and  wrought  in  his  forges 
the  sceptre  of  .Agamemnon,  the  armour  of  Diomedcs  and  of 
Achilles,  and  the  golden  tripods,  which,  unguided  and  unsup- 
ported, could  enter  and  depart  from  the  hall  of  Zeus.  Through 
a  combination  of  disposition  and  disabilitv  he  takes  but  little 
part  in  the  strife  of  the  Greek  and  the  Trojan. 

The  Character  and  Functions  of  flephaistos. —Mythology 
makes  a  much  larger  contribution  to  our  mosaic  portrait  of 
Hephaistos  than  docs  cult,  for  the  bold  outlines  of  his  physical 
appearance  and  the  concrete  nature  of  his  activities  made  him 
a  ready  theme  for  the  myth-maker  and  myth-monger,  although 
these  same  characteristics  debarred  him  from  those  phases  of 
worship  which  demanded  some  measure  of  abstract  thought 
so  that  he  was,  in  fact,  the  least  abstract  and  the  most  con^ 
Crete  of  all  the  gods. 

In  a  myth  which  seems  to  belong  to  a  very  old  stratum 
Hepha.stos  had  no  blood-relationship  at  all  to  Zeus;  instead 
like  Typhon,  he  was  merely  the  son  of  the  unpaired  Hera,  but 
after  she  had  borne  him,  she  observed  that  he  was  a  weakling 
and  cast  him  down  from  Olympos,  the  fall  making  him  lame 
ever  after.    Below  he  took  refuge  with  Thetis  and  Eurynome 
m  their  sea-home  and  spent  his  time  in  training  his  hand  in 
the  cunning  of  the  crafts.    Harbouring  a  grudge  against  his 
mother  for  her  cruelty,  he  fashioned  and  sent  to  her  a  golden 
cha--  fitted  with  invisible  snares,  so  that  when  she  sat  in  it  she 
was  held  so  fast  that  not  even  the  strength  of  the  gods  could 
release  her.   Arcs  went  to  Hephaistos  to  beg  him  to  come  and 
loosen  the  snares,  but  Hephaistos  drove  him  back  home  with 


PLATE    XLVI 

The  Return  of  Hephaistos  to  Olympos 

Hephaistos,  crowned  with  the  festive  ivy  and  hold- 
ing a  pair  of  smith's  tongs,  rides  unsteadily  on  a 
spirited  mule.  In  front  of  him  walks  Dionysos 
carrying  his  special  emblems,  the  thynos  and  the  kan- 
tharos.  The  short  and  merry  procession  is  led  by  a 
Satyr  with  a  horse's  tail  and  pointed  ears,  who  as  he 
goes  along  seems  to  be  dancing  to  the  accompaniment 
of  his  own  lyre.  From  a  red-figured  irater  of  about 
440  B.C.,  in  Munich  (Furtwangler-Reichhold,  Gritch- 
iscke  Fasenmalerei^  No.  7).     See  pp.  7,06-07. 


• 


THE  GREATER  CODS  —  HEPMAISTOS 


207 


fire-brands,  although  after  a  timr  Dionysos  put  Hcphaistos 
under  the  spell  of  wine,  and  bringing  him  to  Olyinpos  had 
him  free  his  mother,  from  wliom,  in  the  end,  he  received  full 
forgiveness.  His  lameness  (humorously  contrary  to  the  modern 
theories  of  heredity)  was  inherited  by  his  sons  Periphctes  and 
Talos,  and  is  observable  in  his  doubles,  Typhon  and  Anchises. 
Some  students  see  the  origin  of  the  lameness  in  the  unsteady 
movements  of  flame,  although  it  has  recently  been  suggested 
that  a  brotherhood  of  warriors  who  needed  a  smith-god  as 
patron  accepted  Hephaistos  in  this  capacity  and  made  him 
lame  to  prevent  him  from  running  away.' 

To  such  an  extent  was  Hephaistos  the  chief  god  of  fire  that 
when  the  hearth-fire  crackled,  men  said,  "Hephaistos  laughs," 
just  as  they  said  of  a  shower,  "Zeus  rains."  He  was  concerned 
principally  with  terrestrial  fire,  the  lightning  being  outside  his 
province  and  the  conception  of  him  as  the  god  of  the  sun's 
heat,  who  rides  on  a  glowing  car  by  day  and  falls  to  earth  at 
evening,  was  by  no  means  general.  He  manifested  his  power 
in  volcanoes,  burning  gases,  and  hot  springs.  In  his  relation  to 
artificial  fire  he  is  associated  with  Prometheus, and  the  torch-race 
at  Athens  was  dedicated  to  these  two  gods  in  conjunction  with 
Athene.   His  chief  volcanic  centre  was  the  island  of  Lemnos. 

In  his  almost  primeval  role  as  worker  in  metal  Hephaistos, 
along  with  Athene,  was  the  instructor  of  the  Kyklopcs  in  their 
trade.  He  himself  was  the  maker  of  the  golden  maidens  en- 
dowed with  life  and  human  faculties,  the  brazen  giant  Talos, 
Europe's  brazen  dog,  the  brazen-footed  bulls  with  which  lason 
ploughed,  and  the  gold  and  silver  dogs  that  guarded  the  house 
of  Alkinous,  while  of  inanimate  objects  he  wrought  the  arms 
of  Memnon,  the  sickle  of  Dcmctcr,  the  arrows  of  Apollo  and 
Artemis,  the  curved  sword  of  Perseus,  the  cup  of  Helios,  and 
many  other  things.  It  may  be  that  Hephaistos  was  very  early 
identified  with  the  demon  of  magical  powers  supposed  by  most 
primitive  peoples  to  reside  in  metals  both  before  and  after 
forging. 


208 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


Apparently  from  the  idea  made  current  by  certain  physical 
philosophers  that  fire  was  the  substance  out  of  which  life  was 
produced,  Hcphaistos  came  to  be  conceived  as  the  creator  of 
men.  Pandora,  we  remember,  was  moulded  by  his  hand  out  of 
clay,  and  a  hint  of  this  function  may  also  be  read  in  the  ac- 
count of  his  strange  fathering  of  lirichthonios  in  union  with 
Athene.  Invocations  supported  by  magical  rites  were  often 
addressed  to  him  to  bring  fertility  to  barren  women. 

Hcphaistos  in  Art. — The  artists  consistently  represented 
Hephaistos  as  a  smith  holding  a  hammer.  Many  statues  of 
the  si.xth  century  grossly  caricatured  his  lameness,  but  others 
merely  hinted  at  it  or  almost  entirely  suppressed  it.  In  the 
late  period  he  became  a  rare  theme  of  art,  and  where  he  was 
represented  at  all  it  was  as  the  serious  artisan. 


HESTIA 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Hestia.  —  Hestia  undoubtedly 
belonged  to  an  old  stratum  of  Greek  life,  and  unlike  most  of 
the  other  gods  she  was  herself  the  object  for  which  her  name 
stood  —  the  hearth  —  for  that  she  was  not  the  fire,  nor  the 
spirit  of  the  fire  burning  on  the  hearth,  is  clear  from  the  lack 
of  daemonic  characteristics  in  her  person.  As  the  hearth  itself 
she  was  originally  a  product  of  the  preanimistic  stage  of 
thought,  and  from  this  stage  she  never  advanced  far,  a  circum- 
stance which  was  due  to  her  static  nature.  The  other  gods  could 
exercise  their  activities  over  broad  ranges  of  territory  and 
peoples,  but  her  virtue  would  have  vanished  with  movement, 
and,  like  home-keeping  youths,  she  had  homely  wits.  Her  im- 
portance rested  on  the  imperative  need  of  fire  in  the  primitive 
home  and  in  the  immense  difficulty  of  procuring  it  in  event  of 
sudden  demand. 

The  Genealogy  and  Functions  of  Hestia.  —  The  earliest  state- 
ment of  Hestia's  parentage  is  to  be  found  in  Hesiod,  where  she 
is  the  eldest  daughter  of  Kronos  and  Rhea,  although  not  a  word 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — HESTIA 


209 


is  said  of  her  duties  as  a  goddess.  In  a  Homeric  Hymn '  ad- 
dressed to  her  we  find  merely  the  remark  that  she  dwells  in 
Apollo's  sacred  house  at  Delphoi,  and  it  is  to  the  Homeric 
Hymn  to  Aphrodite*  that  we  must  look  for  the  fullest  delinea- 
tion. There  her  inviolate  purity  is  enhanced  by  contrast  with 
the  easy  abandon  of  the  goddess  of  love,  for  the  works  of 
Aphrodite,  says  the  hymn  in  substance,  are  displeasing  to 
Hestia,  the  modest  daughter  of  Kronos  whom  both  Poseidon 
and  Apollo  wooed  in  vain.  With  a  mighty  oath  sworn  on  the 
head  of  Zeus  she  declared  that  she  would  remain  a  virgin  all 
her  days,  wherefore  her  father  granted  her  a  gift  instead  of 
marriage,  and  she  took  her  place  in  the  midst  of  the  dwelling 
and  was  accorded  high  honour  in  the  temples  of  the  gods,  and 
from  mortals  received  the  greatest  homage.  Pindar  sings  of 
her  as  the  divine  guardian  of  the  integrity  of  the  state. 

These  few  myths  are  transparent  views  of  the  functions  of 
Hestia,  who  was  the  divine  symbol  of  the  purity  of  the  home. 
As  the  hearth-fire  burned  unceasingly,  so  was  she  the  protect- 
ress of  the  continuity  of  the  family  life;  but  while  Hera  stood 
for  the  government  of  the  household,  Hestia  typified  rather 
the  intimate  daily  relations  of  its  members.  Oaths  sworn  upon 
the  hearth  and  suppliants  beside  the  hearth  were  sacred  to  her, 
and  all  liturgical  acts  in  both  public  and  private  life  were  pref- 
aced by  a  special  recognition  of  her,  while  there  are  some  rea- 
sons for  thinking  that  they  were  also  thus  closed.  Nevertheless, 
despite  her  formal  importance,  Hestia  never  showed  a  strong 
directing  hand  in  the  moulding  of  the  social  organization. 

In  art  Hestia  appears  as  a  sedate  matron  without  distin- 
guishing attributes,  the  flowers  and  fruit  with  which  she  was 
sometimes  shown  having  apparently  been  added  solely  as 
ornaments. 


i 

•li; 

I 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  GREATER  GODS  — POSEIDON 
AND  AMPHITRITE 

POSEIDON 

CT^HE  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Poseidon.  —  If  we  consult  only 
■'■  the  geographical  register  of  the  distribution  of  Poseidon's 
cult,  we  shall  incline  to  classify  him  as  a  god  of  northern 
origin  introduced  into  Hellas  by  immigrating  Greeks.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  we  have  regard  principally  for  his  chief  cult- 
centres,  such  as  Corinth  and  Boiotia,  and  accept  a  recent  dem- 
onstration that  his  inseparable  emblem,  the  trident,  was  in 
origin  the  lightningbolt  of  a  Mesopotamian  divinity,  we  cannot 
well  lielp  believing  that  he,  too,  came  from  the  east,'  in  which 
event  his  cult  would  first  have  reached  Crete  and  thence  have 
been  spread  by  sailors  to  Hellenic  ports  on  the  Aegean  and 
Mediterranean.  Whatever  his  initial  functions  may  have  been, 
he  became  among  tiie  Greeks  the  supreme  master  of  the  sea; 
and  to  ixplain  his  name  as  connected  witli  Trdo-t?  ("lord") 
and  "Irai'os-  or 'Iraifo?,  a  name  of  Crete,  makes  the  suggestion 
as  to  liis  Eastern  origin  very  plausible. 

Pvstidon  in  Homer.  —  Homer  knows  Poseidon  as  the  son 
of  Kronos  and  Rhea.  When  the  new  kingdom  was  divided, 
the  dominion  of  the  sea  was  put  into  his  hands,  while  earth 
and  Olympos  were  set  aside  as  common  territory  for  all  the 
gods.  His  home  is  understood  to  be  in  the  sea  somewhere 
near  Aigai.  In  the  war  at  Ilion  he  displays  no  great  partisan- 
ship, although  his  sympathies  incline  toward  the  cause  of  the 
Greeks,  yet  he  saves  AIneias  from  Achilles  because  the  hour  of 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  POSEIDON 


211 


the  former's  doom  has  not  yet  struck.  He  was  the  father  of 
Polyphemos,  for  whose  death  he  viciously  harassed  Odjsscus 
by  raising  storm-winds  and  billows  in  his  ship's  path;  and  be- 
cause the  lesser  Aias  boasted  of  his  power  to  escape  thcpciils 
of  the  sea,  he  brought  him  to  a  watery  grave.  He  is  the  an- 
cestor of  Alkinoos,  king  of  the  Phaiakians,  and  turns  one  of 
his  ships  to  stone  in  midsea.  He  is  the  mighty  supporter  of  the 
earth,  which  he  causes  to  quake  by  rocking  the  waters  which 
bear  it  up;  and  the  trident,  apparently  by  this  time  conceived 
as  a  fish-spear,  is  uniformly  the  emblem  of  his  power.  In  ap- 
pearance he  is  grim,  and  his  head  is  covered  with  heavy  locks 
of  sea-green  hair;  in  disposition  he  is  moody  and  imperious, 
and  resents  those  commands  of  his  elder  brother,  Zeus,  which 
seem  to  encroach  on  his  sphere  of  authority.  The  horse  and 
horsemanship  come  under  his  special  patronage. 

The  Family  Relationships  of  Poseidon.  —  Poseidon  is  every- 
where accorded  the  honour  of  being  the  son  of  Kronos,  and  he 
fought  with  Zeus  against  his  kinsfolk,  the  Titans,  wielding  the 
trident  which  the  Kyklopes  had  forged  for  him.  His  wedded 
wife  was  Amphitritc,  but  he  had  scant  regard  for  the  moral 
obligations  of  marriage,  for  his  intrigues  with  women  both 
divine  and  mortal  almost  defy  counting,  among  them  being 
those  with  Tyro,  Amymone,  Chione,  and  Libye.  His  oflFspring 
were  still  more  numerous,  and  practically  ail  of  them  were 
in  some  way  associated  with  the  sea,  Aiolos,  Nereus,  Pelias, 
Glaukos  of  Potniai,  Sinis,  Bousiris,  Antaios,  Boiotos,  Poly- 
phemos, and,  if  we  may  credit  one  account,  Theseus,  all  being 
his  sons  by  many  mothers.  Not  a  few  of  his  offspring  were 
of  a  monstrous  nature,  for  instance,  the  terrible  creatures 
which  he  raised  up  from  the  sea  to  harass  Aithiopia  and 
Troy,  the  dragon  of  Thebes,  the  ram  of  the  Golden  Fleece, 
the  bull  of  Marathon,  and  the  bull  which  maddened  the 
horses  of  Hippolytos. 

The  Funcfions  of  Poseidon.  —  In  myth  and  cult  alike  Posei- 
don was  pre-eminently  the  god  of  the  sea,  though  all  significant 

I     -  l8 


iflM 


212         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

bodies  of  fresh  water  also  came  under  his  sway.   The  greater 
number  of  his  epithets  record  his  sundry  relations  with  the  sea 
and  with  things  pertaining  to  the  sea;  nor,  indeed,  can  it  be 
doubted  that  whenever  he  was  invoked  in  worship  by  the 
average  Greek,  his  association  with  the  sea  was  present  before 
the  mind,  no  matter  how  many  other  aspects  he  bore.   Inland 
lakes  or  springs  of  brackish  water  were  held  to  be  of  his  creat- 
ing; for  instance,  the  so-called  Sea  on  the  Acropolis  of  Athens; 
and  he  was  the  chief  deity  of  sea-faring  communities  like  lol- 
kos,  Troizen,  and  Corinth.    While  he  gave  no  specific  encour- 
agement to  the  building  of  ships  and  to  the  technicalities  of 
navigation,  he  was  looked  up  to  as  the  most  reliable  protector 
of  ships  and  sailors  amid  the  perils  of  voyage.     No  wonder 
that  his  shrines  were  very  frequently  located  in  harbours  —  he 
could  calm  or  trouble  the  sea  as  he  would.=   A  certain  myth 
represents  the  award  of  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  to  Poseidon  by 
Briareos  as  the  source  of  his  patronage  of  that  region,  and  it 
was  here  that  lason  so  suitably  dedicated  to  Poseidon  the  ship 
of  ships,  the  Argo.   Finally,  the  doubles  of  Poseidon  reflect  his 
marine  character;  Aigeus,  Theseus,  Peleus,  and  Achilles  all 
stand  in  some  distinctive  relation  to  the  aea. 

Inasmuch  as  the  sea  appeared  to  hold  up  the  land,  it  was 
natural  to  attribute  the  otherwise  inexplicable  phenomena 
emanating  from  the  depths  of  the  earth  to  the  activities  of  the 
powerful  god  of  the  ocean.  It  was  he  who  caused  the  great  up- 
heaval which  in  some  remote  geological  age  drained  the  plains 
of  Thessaly  through  the  Vale  of  Tempe  and  left  the  face  of 
nature  scarred  and  wrinkled;  and  some  of  the  Greeks  even  went 
so  far  as  to  say  that  the  shocks  of  earthquakes  were  due  to 
Demeter's  resistance  to  the  embraces  of  Poseidon,  just  as  a 
turbulent  sea  was  attributed  to  a  similar  brawl  between  Thetis 
and  Peleus,  a  duplicate  of  Poseidon.  The  roaring  and  rum- 
blings of  earthquake  and  billow  were  explained  as  proceeding 
from  prodigious  raging  bulls  or  horses  living  in  the  deep  hol- 
lows of  earth  and  sea,  these  creatures  being  understood  now 


PLATE   XLVII 

Poseidon 

This  conception  of  Poseidon  is  infinitely  nobler 
than  that  appearing  on  p.  6,  although  the  two  por- 
traits endow  him  with  the  same  attributes.  Here  the 
god  seems  to  have  just  emerged  from  his  home  beneath 
the  waves,  and  now,  standing  as  on  an  eminence  and 
surveying  his  vast  domains,  is  about  to  cry  out  to  the 
elements  to  obey  his  will.  From  a  late  Hellenistic 
marble  (second  or  first  century  B.C.),  found  in  Melos 
and  now  in  .\thens  ( Brunn-Bruckmann,  Dtnkmdler 
griechiuhtr  und  romhcher  Sculptur^  No.  550). 


THE  GREATER  GODS- POSEIDON  213 

as  animate  emblems  of  Poseidon,  now  as  identical  with  the  god 

himself.*  ,     «      -j 

By  striking  his  trident  on  a  Thessalian  rock,  Poseidon  is 
said  to  have  produced  the  first  horse,  and  he  it  was  who  gave 
to  Pelops  the  chariot  that  could  fly  over  land  and  sea  drawn  by 
the  immortal  horses  Baiios  and  Xanthos.  Moreover,  he  him- 
self drove  swiftly  over  the  waves  in  his  own  chariot,  nor  do  wc 
need  to  be  reminded  that  he  was  the  father  of  the  winged 
Pegasos  and  of  Areion,  the  horse  of  Adrastos.  The  sacrifice 
of  a  horse  in  connexion  with  his  cult  distinguished  his  ritual 
from  that  of  the  other  divinities,  and  at  Corinth  he  even 
went  by  the  title  Hippios  ("Equestrian").  That  the  horse-god 
should  become  the  deity  of  horse-racing,  and  finally  of  the 
breeding  and  breaking  of  horses,  involves  a  very  easy  process 

of  thought.  .       ,        f    u  »u 

The  god  who  operated  in  the  unseen  depths  of  the  eartn 
was  very  naturally  held  to  be  the  giver  of  springs  and  spring- 
fed  streams  and  lakes,  the  famous  fount  of  Hippoukrene  being 
created  with  a  stroke  of  the  hoof  of  Poseidon's  Pegasos.  The 
springs  of  Lerne  were  revealed  by  Poseidon  to  Amymone,  and 
prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  family  of  Danaos  in  Argolis  he  had 
withheld  water  from  the  fountains  and  rivers  so  that  the  land 
had  become  parched  and  barren.  So  far,  then,  as  water  from 
these  sources  promotes  the  growth  of  plant  life,  Poseidon  is 
rightly  to  be  designated  a  god  of  fertility. 

Poseidon  uniformly  appears  in  myth  as  a  god  of  little  in- 
t  Uectual  and  still  less  ethical  character. 

Poseidon  in  Art.  —  Art  received  its  model  of  Poseidon  from 
Homer.  From  the  best  period  onward  he  appears  as  a  well- 
matured  man  not  unlike  the  type  of  Zeus,  but  distinguishable 
from  it  by  his  heavier  musculature  and  his  less  lordly  manner. 
Ordinarily  he  is  nude  or  lightly  clad,  either  standing  on  a  dol- 
phin or  a  rock,  or  in  the  act  of  taking  a  step  forward,  and  his 
frame  stoops  slightly,  as  if  peering  into  the  distance.  He  is 
shown  bearded  and  with  the  hair  of  the  head  variously  long  or 


}|r 


HI 


lit 


214         (.RF.EK  AND  ROMAN   NnTHOLOCY 

short  and  very  often  disht-vclUd.  Ho  generally  holds  a  trident 
in  his  hand,  but  if  this  and  the  dolphin  are  absent,  identification 
is  often  ditRcult. 

AMPHITRITE 

Amrhitritc  docs  not  strictly  belong  to  the  circle  of  the  great 
gods,  but  owing  to  her  formal  association  with  Poseidon  she 
may  not   improperly  be  brought  to  our  attention  here.    As 
the  wife  of  Poseidon  she  received  many  of  the  honours  accorded 
as  a  matter  of  course  to  the  superior  divinities.    In  myth  she 
was  the  Queen  of  the  Sea,  and  in  reality  she  seems  to  have  been 
the  sea  itself  in  its  aspect  as  the  vast  flood  of  waters  which 
envelops  the  earth.    As  to  the  meaning  of  her  name,  wc  can 
merely  di\  ine,  rather  than  prove,  that  it  refers  to  this  feature 
of  her  nature.    In  the  Iliad  she  is  scarcely  more  than  an  alle- 
gorical figure,  while  in  the  Odyssey  she  has  become  invested 
with  at  least  the  pattern  of  a  personality,  being  here  regarded 
as  the  divine  being  who  sends  the  monsters  of  the  sea  and 
drives  waves  against  the  rocks. 

Amphitrite  was  either  one  of  the  many  daughters  of  Okeanos 
or  the  daughter  of  Nereus  and  Doris.  Poseidon  first  saw  her, 
runs  the  myth,  in  the  company  of  her  sister-nymphs  in  Naxos. 
Of  all  those  fair  ones  she  was  the  fairest,  and  powerless  to 
resist  her  charms  he  seized  her  and  bore  her  away  to  be  his 
wife.  In  the  sea  she  sat  upon  a  throne  at  Poseidon's  side  and 
with  Thetis  led  the  chorus  of  sca-nymphs  in  their  dances.  In 
art  she  is  depicted  as  a  Nereid  of  queenly  mien  with  moist, 
flowing  hair  bound  in  a  net. 


CHAPTER   IX 
THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DIONYSOS 

crilE  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Dionysos.  —  We  need  only 
■*  direct  evidence  to  demonstrate  visually  that  the  home  of 
Dionysos  was  outside  of  Hellas,  for  the  circumstantial  evidence 
favours  that  contention  as  strongly  as  arguments  of  this  kind 
can  support  one  side  or  another  of  a  pioblem  of  religious  ori- 
gins. The  orgiastic  character  of  the  ritei  of  Dionysos  was  as- 
suredly un-Greek,  and  the  early  legends  which  depict  hostility 
to  him  in  various  parts  of  Hellas  must  embody  the  historical 
fact  —  if  they  contain  any  history  at  all  —  that  certain  com- 
munities resisted  the  introduction  of  his  worship.  Perseus 
fought  against  Dionysos;  the  daughters  of  Proitos  were  driven 
mad  for  their  contempt  of  his  rites,  although  it  was  these  very 
ceremonies  by  which  they  were  finally  healed;  the  daughters 
of  Minyas  were  likewise  afflicted  with  madness  for  the  same 
sin;  and  Pentheus  of  Thebes  was  killed  for  his  resistance. 
Lykourgos,  the  king  of  the  Edonians,  also  paid  dearly  for  his 
foolish  attack  on  the  god.  Homer '  puts  the  story  into  the 
mouth  of  Diomedes:  —  "Dryas'  son,  mighty  Lykourgos,  was 
not  for  long  when  he  strove  with  heavenly  gods,  he  that  erst 
chased  through  the  goodly  land  of  Nysa  the  nursing-mothers 
of  the  frenzied  Dionysos;  and  they  all  cast  their  wands  upon 
the  ground,  smitten  with  murderous  Lykourgos'  ox-goad. 
Then  Dionysos  fled  and  plunged  beneath  the  salt-sea  wave, 
and  Thetis  took  him  to  her  bosom,  affrighted,  for  a  mighty 
trembling  had  seized  him  at  hh  foes'  rebuke.  But  with  Ly- 
kourgos the  gods  that  live  at  ease  were  wroth,  and  Kronos* 


iMv 


ill-.' 

ti 


MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

ANSI  and  ISO  U  ST   CHART  No    2 


1.0 


I.I 


i  28      II  2.5 


1132 


IIM 


i^' 


I  2.2 
2.0 

1.8 


1-25    III  1.4     mil  1.6 


^     APPLIED  IM/1GE     Inc 


2i6         GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 

son  made  him  blind,  and  he  was  not  for  long,  because  he  was 
hated  of  the  immortal  gods." 

Yet  the  evidence  docs  more  than  point  away  from  K  as; 
it  indicates  Thrace  with  some  degree  of  definiteness.  Many 
Greeks  of  the  historical  period  were  firmly  convinced  of  Dio- 
nysos's  Thracian  origin,  and,  moreover,  what  little  we  know 
of  the  old  Thracian  rc'igion  shows  that  it  had  characteristics 
very  similar  to  those  of  the  cult  of  Dionysos,  while,  further, 
the  scene  of  action  and  the  nidJ  votaries  of  Dionysos  in  the 
Lykourgos-myth  are  Thracian. 

The  route  of  Dionysos's  approach  to  Greece  presents  more 
difficulties  than  the  question  of  his  nativity.   Few  believe  that 
he  came  directly  from  Thrace,  at  least  at  first,  although  one 
must  admit  the  possibility  of  a  late  current  of  his  cult  sweep- 
ing into  Greece  through  a  straight  channel.    The  prevailing 
opinion  is  that  Dionysos  was  first  carried  by  Thracian  immi- 
grants to  Phrygia,  where  his  nature  as  a  god  of  fertility  bound 
him  intimately  with  the  earth  goddess  of  the  region,  who  seems 
to  have  been  known  as  Zcmelo,  a  name  strikingly  similar  to 
that  of  Semele,  the  mother  of  Dionysos  in  Theban  legend. 
From  Phrygia  the  god  made  his  way  to  Crete,  and  thence  to 
those  parts   of   Greece  which  were    in  close  marine  contact 
with  Crete,  notably  Argos  and  the  Boiotian  coast.  The  myths 
of  these  places  involving  Dionysos  show  that  here  were  sit- 
uated his  oldest  establishments  in  Greece.    He  seems  to  have 
reached  Athens  under  the  kings  by  way  of  the  Marathonian 
tetrapolis,   and   his  advent  is  celebrated    in   a  legend  which 
probably  goes  back  to  the  eighth  century,  the  period  of  the 
Boioto-Euboian  influence.    This  alleges  that  Dionysos  came  to 
Ikarios,  who  dwelt  on  the  nortliern  borders  of  Attike,  giving 
him  a  shoot  of  the  vine  and  instructing  him  in  its  culture. 
Wishing  to  bestow  a  boon  upon  men,  Ikarios  gave  some  un- 
mixed wine  to  a  band  of  shepherds,  but  they,  having  par- 
taken of  it  too  freely,  became  drunk,  and  believing  that  they 
had  been  poisoned  set  upon  Ikarios  and  killed  him.     Later, 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DIONYSOS 


217 


■i 


if 

-n 

i 


coming  to  their  senses,  they  buried  his  body,  but  Erigone, 
his  daughter,  with  the  aid  of  her  dog,  found  his  grave  and 
hanged  herself  on  a  tree  which  overhung  it.  As  a  penalty 
for  the  death  of  Ikarios  Dionysos  sent  upon  the  people  an 
epidemic  which  was  appeased  only  when  they  had  publicly 
offered  him  the  phallic  emblem;  and  to  make  amends  for  the 
death  of  Erigone  the  Attic  maidens  began  hanging  themselves, 
the  baneful  practice  being  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  for 
it  was  substituted  a  festival  in  which  the  young  girls  swung 
from  trees.  This  last  feature  of  the  story  probably  arose  when 
the  original  purpose  of  this  ritual  swinging,  the  excitement 
of  sexual  passion,  had  been  forgotten.  Another  cult-practice^ 
seems  to  embody  as  an  historical  fact  a  second  and  later  in- 
troduction of  Dionysos  into  Attike  by  way  of  the  town  of 
Eleutherai. 

The  word  "Dionysos"  is  divisible  into  two  parts,  the  first 
originally  Aio?-  (cf.  Ztw),  while  the  second  is  of  unknown 
signification,  although  perhaps  connected  with  the  name  of 
the  Mount  Nysa  which  figures  in  the  story  of  Lykourgos. 

Dionysos  in  Homer.  —  Dionysos  plays  a  very  subordinate 
role  in  Homer,  for  he  is  not  yet  exalted  to  the  circle  of  the 
Olympians.  The  poet  regards  him  as  the  son  of  Zeus  and 
Semole  and  is  acquainted  with  the  tale  of  his  persecution  by 
Lykourgos,  besides  making  him  the  witness  of  Theseus's  de- 
parture from  Crete  with  Ariadne,  and  recording  that  it  was 
he  who  gave  to  Thetis  the  golden  jar,  the  hnndiwork  of  He- 
phaistos,  in  which  she  placed  the  ashes  of  Achilles. 

The  Birth  of  Dionysos.  —  After  the  birth  of  Dionysos,  of 
which  we  have  read  in  an  earlier  passage,  shoots  of  twining 
ivy  sprang  from  the  ground  to  give  a  protecting  shade  to  the 
infant  god,  and  remained  to  deck  the  shrine  of  his  mother 
Scmele,  which  was  afterward  erected  on  the  spot  where  she 
died,  its  roof  being  supported  by  pillars  which  fell  from  heaven 
with  the  bolts  of  lightning  by  which  she  was  slain.  When 
Dionysos  had  been  reborn  from  the  thigh  of  Zeus,  Hermes  en- 


'M 


2i8         GREEK  AND  ROMAN   i\I\THOLOGY 

trusted  him  to  the  nymphs  of  Mount  Nysa,  who  fed  him  on 
the  fcx)d  of  the  gods  and  made  him  immortal. 

The  Functions  and  the  Cult  of  Dionysos.  — The  ecstatic  or- 
gies of  the  Dionysiac  rituals  and  the  prominence  of  the  vine  in 
myths  relating  to  Dionysos  are  altogether  responsible  for  the 
very  common  notion  that  he  was  primarily  the  god  of  wine, 
although,  on   the  contrary,  he  was  in   reality  the  deity  who 
embodied  in  his  single  being  the  sum  total  of  all  those  unseen 
powers  which  produce  all  kinds  of  plant  life.    Naturally  he 
was  given  most  consideration  in  nis  relation  as  producer  of 
those  plants  on  which  human  life  most  depended,  and  the  vine, 
as  one  of  these,  readily  became  his  popular  symbol.  Dionysos's 
character  as  a  divinity  of  vegetation  '''  revealed  in  a  number  of 
myths  where,  like  the  Lakonian  Hyakinthos,  he  appears  as 
alternately  dying  and  coming  to  life,  this  being  apparently  the 
signification  of  his  fall  with  Semele  and  of  his  subsequent  re- 
birth.   Under  the  title  of  Zagreus  he  was  thought  to  be  torn 
asunder  and  revived,  and  the  idea  is  also  present  in  that  part 
of  the  Homeric  story  of  Lykourgos  which  we  have  reviewed. 
Lykourgos  represents  those  elements  which  at  a  certain  season 
cause  the  death  of  all  vegetation,  but  since  these  factors  cannot 
always  prevail,  Lykourgos  is  subdued  and  Dionysos  lives  on  to 
enjoy  immortality.  The  continuation  of  this  legend  beyond  the 
point  to  which  Homer  carries  it  is  in  the  same  vein.   Dionysos, 
it  recounts,  smote  Lykourgos  with  madness,  and  while  in  this 
condition  the  king,  in  an  attempt  to  cut  the  trunk  of  a  vine 
with  an  axe,  accidentally  killed  his  own  son.    Still  out  of  his 
senses,  he  foully  mutilated  the  boy's  body,  but  the  land  then 
withheld  its  fruits,  and  an  oracle  declared  to  the  people  that 
this  state  of  things  would  continue  until  they  had  brought  about 
the  death  of  Lykourgos.    Thereupon  the  Edonians  seized  him 
and  bore  him  off  to  Mount  Pangaion,  where  he  was  drawn 
asunder  by  horses,'  thus  satisfying  Dionysos,  who  caused  the 
land  to  bear. 
It  was  in  the  character  of  producer  of  those  forms  of  vegeta- 


PLATE   XLVIII 

The  Enthroned  Dionysos 

Dionysos  is  seated  on  an  elaborate  marble  or  ivory 
throne,  studded  with  jewels,  and  behind  him  rises  a 
sacred  pillar.  The  god,  with  his  emblems  (garland, 
thyrses,  and  kantharos)  is  depicted  as  a  bibulous- 
looking  celebrant  of  his  own  rites.  On  the  ground  at 
his  right  is  a  tympanon  supported  in  an  oblique  posi- 
tion, and  at  his  left  a  panther,  highly  suggestive  of  the 
Oriental  associations  oi  the  Dionysiac  cult.  The 
painting  is  remarkable  for  its  blending  of  soft  flesh- 
tints,  dainty  blues  of  the  drapery,  and  the  delicate 
white  of  the  throne,  against  an  unrelieved  background 
of  rich  red.  From  a  wall-painting  in  the  Casa  del 
Naviglio,  Pompeii  (Hermann-Bruckmann,  Denkmalir 
der  Maltrei  des  Jlter turns.  No.  i). 


i- 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DIONYSOS 


219 


tion  useful  to  men  that  Dionysos  and  his  worship  were  spread 
abroad  not  only  within  Greece,  as  the  story  of  Ikarios  demon- 
strates, but  also  without.  A  Homeric  Hymn  to  Dionysos* 
consists  entirely  of  the  narrative  of  his  introduction  to  a  sea- 
faring folk  of  the  west.  Once  as  he  was  standing  in  the  guise  of 
a  youth  in  his  prime  on  a  promontory  overlooking  the  sea, 
some  Tyrrhenian  sea-rovers  espied  him,  and  capturing  him 
took  him  into  their  vessel,  where  they  bound  him  with  fetters. 
When  with  the  utmost  ease  he  burst  his  bonds  asunder,  the 
pilot  perceived  that  he  was  a  god  and  warned  his  fellows 
against  doing  him  any  evil;  but  since  they  would  have  none  of 
his  words  and  trimmed  their  sails  to  make  haste  to  the  high 
sea,  Dionysos  began  to  show  his  might.  First  he  caused  wine 
to  pour  into  the  ship's  hold,  and  next  he  made  a  vine  laden  with 
clusters  of  grapes  to  camber  over  the  sail  and  an  ivy  plant  to 
ascend  to  the  peak  of  the  mast.  In  their  fear  at  these  wonders 
the  sailors  tried  to  put  to  shore,  but  Dionysos,  becoming  a 
lion,  seized  their  captain  and  forced  them  to  leap  into  the  sea, 
where  they  were  changed  into  dolphins,  only  the  pilot  who  had 
recognized  his  divinity  being  spared.*  Of  much  the  same  order 
is  the  account  of  Dionysos's  wanderings  after  the  jealous 
Hera  had  made  him  mad  because  of  his  discovery  of  the  uses 
of  the  vine.  From  one  land  of  the  East  to  another  he  went 
triumphantly  spreading  his  cult  and  his  gift  of  wine,  until  at 
last  he  reached  distant  India; "  but  in  the  end  he  returned  to 
Greece  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Thebes,  where  he  became  the 
idol  of  a  horde  of  women  votaries.  He  is  again  seen  as  a  wine- 
god  in  the  person  of  his  duplicate,  Oineus  of  Kalydon,  whose 
name  is  obviously  connected  with  oli/o?  ("wine"),  and,  more- 
over, in  one  source  it  was  Dionysos,  not  Oineus,  who  was  the 
wife  of  Althaia  ("Nourishing  Earth"). 

It  is,  therefore,  not  at  all  surprising  that  this  god  entered  into 
certain  affiliations  with  Demeter,^  the  earth  goddess  of  Eleu- 
sis,  the  Thracian  origin  of  Eumolpos,  the  founder,  according 
to  legend,  of  the  Eleusinian  priesthood,  adding  plausibility  to 


'If 


m 


220         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  XnTHOLOGY 

the  union,  while  lakchos,  whose  name  is  etymologically  akin  to 
Bakchos,  one  of  the  divine  personages  of  the  mysteries,  was 
a  form  of  Dionysos.  That  feature  of  the  rites  in  which  Per- 
sephone, Demeter's  daughter,  was  redeemed  from  Hades  as  the 
personal  representative  of  the  initiates,  was  such  as  to  attract 
Dionysos  in  his  capacity  as  releaser  from  Hades,  a  function 
which  he  derived,  perhaps,  from  the  power  of  wine  to  release 
the  mind  from  care  and  worry,  and  myth  records  that  he 
liberated  both  Ariadne  and  Semele  from  the  eternal  bondage 
of  the  underworld. 

Although  the  fountain-nymphs  are  often  said  in  legend  to 
be  his  ministrants,  this  is  not  to  be  taken  to  imply  that  he  was 
a  water-god.  If  the  easiest  interpretation  is  to  be  followed,  it 
means,  rather,  that  the  Greeks  regarded  the  watercourses  as 
aiding  him  in  the  production  of  an  abundant  growth.'* 

To  count  the  god  of  fertility  as  the  deity  of  wealth  is  an  easy 
transit  for  the  imaginative  mind,  and  a  late,  and  uncanonical 
myth,  as  we  may  term  it,  depicts  him  in  this  guise.  After 
Midas,  the  Mygdonian  king,  had  been  given  the  ears  of  an  ass 
for  having  preferred  the  music  of  Marsyas  to  that  of  Apollo, 
Dionysos  chanced  to  pass  through  the  kingdom  on  his  way  to 
India.  Entertaining  him  liberally,  Midas  gave  him  a  guide  for 
his  journey,  and  in  gratitude  Dionysos  bestowed  upon  the 
king  the  power  of  turning  to  gold  whatever  he  touched.  This 
boon,  however,  proved  to  be  only  a  banc,  for  even  the  food  which 
Midas  would  convey  to  his  lips  became  gold,  so  that  he  was 
in  a  fair  way  to  starve  to  death.  At  last  he  begged  to  be  de- 
livered from  his  ruthless  gift,  wherefore  Dionysos  bade  him 
wash  himself  in  the  river  Paktolos,  whose  waters  took  on  the 
tinge  of  gold  as  soon  as  his  body  touched  the  stream. 

The  relation  between  Dionysos  and  the  Muses  goes  back  to 
the  Thracian  period  of  his  worship.  From  the  earliest  times  in 
Hellas  his  special  rituals  consisted  of  songs  and  dances  de- 
signed magically  to  stimulate  the  growth  of  useful  plant  life 
and  to  avert  such  influences  as  threatened  it.   At  first  these 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DIONYSOS 


221 


performances  were  merely  crude,  spontaneous  outbursts  of 
religious  emotion,  but  in  time  the  orderly  mind  and  the  crea- 
tive fancy  of  the  Greek  moulded  them,  as  it  were,  out  of  the 
dust  of  the  earth  into  those  sublime  figures  of  literary  and 
musical  art,  the  dithyramb  (or  independent  choral  song), 
tragedy,  and  comedy.  The  divine  mission  of  Dionysos  "to 
mingle  the  music  of  the  flute  and  to  bring  surcease  to  care"  ^ 
is  transparent  through  the  text  of  any  of  the  works  of  the  great 
dramatists. 

Space  allows  us  to  draw  attention  only  to  the  more  important 
festivals  of  Dionysos.  In  Sikyon,  Corinth,  and  Attike  these 
were  made  special  occasions  for  musical  performances,  but  only 
in  the  last  of  these  three  places  did  they  attain  to  monu- 
mental distinction.  Here  they  were  four  in  number,  begin- 
ning, if  we  follow  the  order  of  our  months,  in  January  with 
the  Lenaia,  the  feast  of  wild  women  (Arjvai).  The  Anthestcria, 
combining  ceremonies  attendant  on  the  opening  of  the  new 
wine  with  a  primitive  "all  souls'"  festival,  came  next  in  Feb- 
ruary, and  in  connexion  with  this  there  took  place  a  symbolic 
marriage  of  the  wife  of  the  king  Archon  to  Dionysos.  In 
March  followed  the  Greater,  or  City,  Dionysia,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  which  the  introduction  of  Dionysos  into  Attike  by  way 
of  Eleutherai  was  proccssionally  represented;  and  finally,  in 
December,  the  people  of  the  country  districts  celebrated  lo- 
cally the  uncouth  and  unrestrained  Rural  Dionysia.  The  con- 
nexions established  between  Dionysos  and  professional  actors 
and  musicians  in  the  organized  festivals  led  to  his  adoption 
as  the  patron  deity  of  the  brotherhoods  or  the  guilds  of  these 
performers,  societies  which  continued  to  thrive  until  a  late 
date. 

Sufficient  remark  has  already  been  made  on  the  general 
significance  of  the  Dionysiac  rituals,  but  it  remains  to  speak  of 
the  ecstasy  of  the  votaries.  This  was  not  induced  wholly  by 
the  use  of  wine,  as  is  almost  universally  supposed,  for  it  arose 
in  the  first  place  through  the  potent  suggestiveness  of  the  mere 


il? 


'»'»'» 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 


idi-a  that  it  was  possible  for  the  individual  mortal,  by  the  ob- 
siTvancc  of  certain  forms,  to  become  spiritually  one  with  the 
immortal  god,  the  potency  of  the  concept  being  immeasurably 
increased  when  it  possessed  a  company  of  people  (,f  like  mind, 
even  though  they  remained  static.  With  the  aid  of  dancing, 
music,  drinking,  shouting,  and  participation  in  the  raw  flesh 
and  blood  of  victims  in  which  the  gf)d  was  thought  to  dwell,  the 
idea  threw  the  votaries  into  an  uncontrollable  frenzy  akin  to 
madness  in  its  external  demonstration,  whence  the  madness  of 
the  daughters  of  Proitos  and  Minyas,  and  of  Dionysos  him- 
self. 

To  the  field  of  morals  Dionysos  made  no  new  contribu- 
tions, nor,  contrary  to  the  common  belief,  with  all  the  seem- 
ing licence  of  his  rites  did  he  add  to  general  immorality.  His 
gift  was  mainly  religious,  although  it  had  a  salutary  social  re- 
action. To  countless  thousands  whose  individualities  had  been 
submerged  in  the  primacy  of  state  interests  he  brought  a  stim- 
ulating hope  and  a  buoyant  faith  in  the  possibility  of  attaining 
to  an  immortal  existence,  as  free  from  worldly  care  as  was 
the  divine  ecstasy  of  his  ritual. 

Dionysos  in  Art.  —  After  Dionysos  came  to  be  represented 
in  fully  iconic  form,  two  distinct  types  were  developed.  In 
the  first,  seen  on  Attic  vases  of  the  sixth  century,  he  is  gen- 
erally shown  as  a  bearded  man  becomingly  clothed,  and  to  dis- 
tinguish him  from  u  similar  type  of  Hermes,  a  branch  of  vine 
or  of  ivy  is  put  into  his  hand.  In  the  second  aspect,  doubt- 
less given  vogue  through  Pheidias,  he  appears  as  a  youthful 
god  of  inspiration.  The  kantharos,  a  kind  of  drinking  vessel, 
the  thyrsos,  a  ceremonial  wand,  and  a  fawn-skin  arc  his  most 
common  emblems.  He  is  sometimes  surrounded  by  Maenads, 
and  his  whole  bearing  is  one  of  ecstasy,  so  that  occasionally  he 
is  even  shown  as  intoxicated;  it  is  not,  however,  until  after  the 
fourth  century  b.c.  that  excessive  sensuality  and  effeminacy 
were  attributed  to  him  so  frequently  as  to  be  regarded  as 
essential  features. 


Tllli  GREATER  GODS  —  DIONVSOS 


2^3 


Myths  of  Alexander  the  Great.  —  Alexander  llic  (jreat  was 
variously  said  lo  have  been  a  direct  descendant  of  Dionysos, 
a  reincarnation  of  Hcrakles,  and  a  son  of  Anuuun.  After  his 
victorious  march  to  the  Orient  the  story  of  the  wanderines 
of  Dionysos  acquired  many  new  features  and  a  new  meaning, 
although  the  best  known  myths  of  Alexander  relate  him  to 
Amnion.  It  is  said  that  the  last  of  the  native  kings  of  Egypt, 
Nektanebos,  fled  in  disguise  from  Egypt  to  Pella  and  there 
became  an  astrologer  in  the  court  of  Philip.  As  it  hap- 
pened, Olympias,  the  queen,  came  to  him  for  a  reading  of 
her  future,  and  he  told  her  that  by  the  god  Ammon  she 
would  conceive  a  son  who  would  rule  the  world  and  avenge 
her  on  the  king  for  his  cruelty.  Just  as  he  said,  the  god  ap- 
proached her  in  the  form  of  a  serpent,  and  in  due  time  she 
became  the  mother  of  a  son  whose  birth  was  accompanied 
by  earthquake,  lightning,  and  thunder  —  «igns  which  proved 
him  to  be  divine.  Moreover,  his  very  appearance  and  manner 
marked  him  as  one  not  of  the  common  order  of  kings,  for  his 
right  eye  was  as  black  as  night,  and  his  left  was  as  blue  as 
the  heavens,  while  his  hair  and  teeth,  and  likewise  his  spirit, 
resembled  those  of  a  Hon.  Although  he  bore  no  resemblance 
to  Philip,  yet  the  latter  accepted  him  as  his  son  and  was  pleased 
to  account  for  his  divinity  by  tracing  his  own  descent  back  to 
Okeanos  and  Thetis  and  that  of  Olympias  to  Kronos  and 
Poseidon. 

On  the  death  of  Philip,  Alexander  marshalled  a  great  army 
and  at  its  head  marched  through  many  lands.  Through 
Thrace  he  went,  through  Italy  and  Sicily,  Carthage  and  Libya, 
until  he  came  to  the  shrine  of  the  great  Ammon,  where  he 
offered  due  homage  and  l^ft  a  votive  inscription  bearing  the 
words:  "Alexander  to  his  father,  the  god  Ammon."  Thence 
he  passed  on  through  Egypt,  Syria,  Persia,  and  the  lands 
about  the  Euxine,  and  at  last  reached  Greece.  At  the  shrine  of 
Delphoi  he  demanded  an  oracle  concerning  his  destiny,  but 
the   priestess   refused   him,   whereupon,   burning  with   anger, 


! 


I 


224         GREEK  AND  RON:        M\THOLOGY 

like  Hcraklcs  before  him,  Alexander  seized  the  sacred  tripod 
and  threatened  to  carry  it  away.  The  priestess  then  made 
haste  to  speak,  calling  him  Heraklcs  Alcx-'nder  and  prophesy- 
ing that  he  would  be  greater  than  all  mortals.  Emboldened  by 
these  words,  Alexander  marched  to  the  conquest  of  the  golden 
East,  where,  one  after  another,  the  great  kings  and  kingdoms 
fell  before  him  —  Persia,  Media,  Baktria,  India  —  until  there 
were  no  more  lands  to  conquer.  On  his  homeward  march  he 
fell  ul  and  died,  and  took  his  rightful  place  in  heaven  among 
the  gods. 


PLATE   XLIX 


DiONYSOS    IN    THE    ShIP 

Dionvsos,  crowned  with  ivy,  leans  back  at  his  case 
in  the  middle  of  his  ship.    Springing  from  beside  h.m, 
two  stout  vine-stalks  clamber    up  the    mast    at    the 
peak  of  which  thev  send  out  spreading  branches  laden 
with  grapes  and  leaves.     The  dolphins  indicate  that 
the  ship  is  afloat  in  the  sea,  but  the  painter  g.ves  no 
hint  whether  they  represent  the  transformed  p.rates 
of  the  literary  myth.     From  a  black-figured  iyl.^  by 
Exekias  (latter    part   of   the    sixth  centurv   b.cO,  m 
Munich   (Furtwangler-Reichhold,  Gr.ech.sche   Vaun- 
maUai,  No.  42)-     See  p.  219. 


KaSTOR    and    PotYDEUKES    AT    HoME 

The  figures  in  this  composition  can  be  identified 
bv  means  of  the  inscriptions.     They  represent  all  the 
family  of  Tvndareos,  excepting  Helen,  in  the.r  Spartan 
home;  proceeding  from  right   to  left  they  are  Tyn- 
dareos  himself,  a  boy  slave,  Kastor,  Leda   and  Poly- 
deukes      The  whole  scene  is  eloquent  of  a  domestic 
harmony  which  includes    even    the    an.mals   of   the 
household.     From  a  black-figured  amphorc^  by  Exck.as 
(latter  part  of  the  sixth  century   B.C.),  in  the   Vat- 
ican (Furtwangler-Reichhold,  Griechiuhe  la.enmalcre.. 
No.  132)-     See  pp.  24  ff. 


.m 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DEMETER, 
KORE,  HADES 

DEMETER  AND   KORE   (PERSEPHONE) 

CT^E  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Demeter.  —  The  goddess  Demr- 
■^  ter,  the  daughter  of  Rhea  and  Kronos,  is  an  exceedingly- 
important  figure  in  the  history  of  religions  on  account  of  the 
numerous  phases  of  her  character  in  cult  and  myth,  and  also 
because  of  the  powerful  influence  which  she  exerted  on  the 
whole  Greek  world  after  a  certain  period.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  more  in  reference  to  her  origin  than  that,  when  we 
go  back  as  far  as  we  can,  she  still  seems  to  be  a  Hellenic 
divinity.  Parallels  to  her  cult  found  among  barbarians  re- 
main parallels  and  nothing  more,  and  the  fact  that  she  was 
acknowledged  as  the  chief  divinity  of  the  northern  Amphik- 
tyony  is  proof  positive  of  her  very  ancient  establishment  as 
a  goddess  common  to  many  Hellenic  tribes.  While  she  is 
obviously  a  form  of  Gaia  (Ge),  she  was  in  function  the  soil 
goddess  rather  than  the  broadly  generalized  earth  goddess. 
In  the  light  of  her  character  it  is  very  attractive  to  interpret 
her  name  Ari/i^iip  as  a  dialectic  variant  of  yfj-ii^rjp,  but  the 
suggestion  will  not  stand  etymologically.  A  more  novel  way, 
and  one  which  conforms  to  known  caprices  of  folk-speech,  is 
to  explain  the  name  as  an  alliterative  form,  invented  half  de- 
liberately, half  unconsciously,  to  correspond  to  the  antithetical 
Atew  iraTTip,  thus  giving  the  co-operating  divine  pair,  Mother 
Earth  and  Father  Sky;  and  still  another  interpretation  which 
is  worth  considering  makes  the  name  signify  "  Barley  Mother," 
a  meaning  quite  consonant  with  the  scope  of  her  operations. 


l!^ 


226 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


Demeter  in  Homer.  —  Dcmctcr  is  more  of  a  symbol  in  Homer 
than  a  personality.  She  is  the  divinity  of  the  corn,  and  Thes- 
salian  Pyrasos  is  known  as  her  sacred  field,  owing,  no  doubt, 
to  its  productivity.  She  has  no  place  as  yet  in  the  group  of 
the  Olympians,  nor  has  she  any  part  to  play  in  the  action  of 
cither  Iliad  or  Odyssey.  Homer  is  not  acquainted  with  her 
as  the  mother  of  Persephone,  and  the  story  of  her  amour  with 
lasion  as  related  in  the  epic  will  be  referred  to  under  the  next 
heading. 

Demeter  as  the  Goddess  of  the  Soil.  —  The  nature  of  Demeter 
is  brought  out  by  an  admittedly  ancient  myth  found  both  in 
Homer  and  in  Hcsiod,  the  latter's  account  ^  being  richer  in 
details.    "Demeter,  divine  one  of  goddesses,  mingling  in  love 
with  the  hero  lasion  in  a  thrice-ploughed  fallow  field  in  the 
fat  land  of  Crete,  bore  Ploutos,  a  goodly  son  who  goeth  every- 
where upon  earth  and  upon  the  broad  ridges  of  the  sea.  What- 
soever man  he  meeteth  and  into  whose  hands  he  cometh  doth 
he  make  rich,  and  to  him  doth  he  vouchsafe  abundant  happi- 
ness."    Homer  adds  that  when  Zeus  learned  of  the  deed  of 
lasion,  he  smote  him  dead  with  a  thunderbolt.    This  myth, 
although  not  cast  in  the  form  of  an  explanation,  seems  to  be 
in  reality  an  attempt  to  solve  the  origin  of,  and  to  supply  a 
divine  sanction  for,  the  performance  of  rites  involving  the  ac- 
tual or  symbolic  cohabitation  of  a  man  and  a  woman  in  a  field 
about  to  be  sown,  these  ceremonies  fertilizing  the  earth  so 
that  she  would  bring  forth  her  increase  and  confer  wealth  and 
happiness  upon  mankind.^    Though  the  bounty  of  Demeter 
comprehended  every  product  of  the  soil  which  was  of  use  to 
men,  the  cereal  fruits  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  special  ob- 
jt.ts  of  htr  care.   All  operations  on  the  farm,  all  parts  of  the 
farm,  such  as  barn  and  field  and  so  forth,  which  had  to  do  with 
the  cultivation  of  the  grain,  the  crops  in  all  stages  of  their 
growth,  the  cut  grain  in  the  sheaf  and  on  the  threshing-floor, 
all  these  things  too  came  under  her  surveillance.    The  first 
loaf  of  the  newly  harvested  crop  was  dedicated  to  her,  and  all 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DEMETER,   KORE    227 

of  her  festivals,  no  matter  at  what  time  of  the  year  they 
occurred,  were  cereal  celebrations  suitable  for  the  season. 

It  has  been  very  happily  suggested  that  from  Demeter's 
rolf  as  producer  of  wealth  was  directly  evolved  her  peculiar 
character  as  ^eauoi^pot,  the  maintainer  of  political  and  social 
stability.  If  this  be  so,  Demeter  is  here  simply  the  personified 
recognition  of  the  fact,  so  strongly  emphasized  by  modern 
economists,  that  the  real  prosperity  of  a  country  varies  di- 
rectly with  its  agricultural  conditions.  If  Demeter  was  propi- 
tious, social  relations  were  not  disturbed,  but  if  unpropitious, 
the  altered  ability  to  sell,  purchase,  or  barter  effected  a 
general  upheaval.  Under  this  same  appellative  QetTno<f>6po<:, 
Demeter  had  also  an  intimate  relation  to  the  institution  of 
marriage  and  thereby  to  the  family,  this  being  a  consequence 
of  the  natural  evolution  of  the  central  idea  contained  in  the 
field-rites.  Children  were  therefore  just  as  much  her  gifts  as 
were  the  fruits  of  agriculture,  and  on  the  assurance  of  a  steady 
birth-rate  depended  proportionately  the  continuity  of  the  social 
order.' 

Demeter  and  Kore  {Persephone).  —  It  will  be  easier  to  under- 
stand the  m.ystic  meaning  of  the  bond  between  Demeter  and 
Persephone  when  we  have  reviewed  in  its  entirety  the  legend 
which  constitutes  the  theme  of  the  so-called  Homeric  Hymn 
to  Demeter.  This  Eleusinian  story,*  doubtless  through  its 
superior  artistic  presentation,  ultimately  overshadowed  every 
other  local  tradition  of  the  two  divinities  and  came  to  be  the 
canonical  version  for  all  the  Greeks.  Persephone,  the  daughter 
of  Demeter  by  Zeus,  was  playing  in  the  meadows  of  Mysia  with 
nymphs  of  the  sea  and  plucking  the  wild  flowers  of  the  spring- 
time —  roses,  crocuses,  irises,  violets,  and  hyacinths,  —  when 
she  spied  an  especially  beautiful  and  fragrant  stalk  of  nar- 
cissus and  hastened  to  pick  it.  Alas!  this  was  a  snare  devised 
by  Zeus  and  Earth  to  entrap  her,  for  just  as  her  fingers  closed 
on  the  stem,  the  ground  opened  beneath  her,  and  Hades,  leaping 

forth  in  his  golden  chariot,  seized  her  and  bore  her  swiftly 
I  — 19 


228         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 
away.   Only  the  Sun  and  Hckatc,  the  moon-goddess   saw  her 
capture,  but  her  mother  heard  her  cries  and  instantly  rushea 
forth  to  seek  her,  going  about  the  earth  for  nine  days  and  nmc 
nights,  without  tasting  food  or  drink,  and  bearmg  m  her 
hands  blazing  torches  to  light  up  the  darkest    xesses.   Dunng 
this  time  neither  the  gods  who  had  been  witnesses  o    Per- 
sephone's seizure  nor  any  omen  came  to  the  mother  s  a.d  with 
a  word  of  information,  but  on  the  tenth  day  Hekate  led  her 
to  the  Sun,  who  told  her  where  the  maiden  was.    Again  the 
distracted  mother  betook  herself  to  wandering,  and  haying 
passed  unrecognized  through  many  lands  in  the  guise  of  an 
old  woman,  she  came  at  last  to  Eleusis  in  Att.ke,  where  she 
sat  down  by  the  public  well,  known  as  the  Fountain  of  Maiden- 
hood.   Hither  came  the  four  daughters  of  Keleos,  the  king  of 
the  country,  to  draw  water.  Won  by  their  gracious  willingness 
to  listen  to  her,  Demeter  told  them  a  fictitious  tale  of  her 
escape  from  pirates  who  had  enslaved  her,  and  then  asked 
them  to  obtain  for  her  a  place  as  nurse  in  some  family,  where- 
upon they  took  her  to  their  own  home,  putting  their  infant 
blather  Demophon  in  her  care.  By  day  Demeter  anointed  the 
child  with  ambrosia  and  by  night  bathed  him  in  fire,  as  Thetis 
did  with  Achilles,  and  he  was  like  to  become  immortal  when  his 
mother  Metaneira  discovered  the  performance  of  the  magic 
rites  and  snatched  him  away.  Instantly  the  godd.ss  threw  aside 
her  disguise  and,  revealing  herself  in  all  her  divine  freshness  and 
beauty,  she  announced  her  name  and  bade  the  people  of  Eleu- 
sis  build  her  a  temple  in  which  she  would  teach  them  the  cere- 
monial of  her  worship.   Keleos  did  as  she  had  commanded,  and 
in  the  temple  she  took  up  her  abode;  but  so  great  was  her 
grief  for  her  daughter  that  she  withheld  her  blessings  from  the 
soil,  so  that  men  began  to  die  for  need  of  food,  and  the  altars  of 
the  gods  lacked  sacrifices.    At  length  Zeus  sent  Ins  and  the 
other  gods  one  after  another  to  plead  with  her  to  relent,  but 
she  would  not  hear  of  it  until  her  daughter  should  be  given 
back  to  her,  wherefore  Zeus  dispatched  Hermes  to  the  under- 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DEMETER,   KORE    229 

world  to  bid  Hades  release  Persephone.  Unable  to  resist  the 
command  of  his  elder  brother,  Hades  yielded,  but  before  letting 
Persephone  go  shrewdly  gave  her  a  pomegranate  seed  to  eat, 


ci^mmMejsjeMcirsmjarEiic^jpjT^ja 


Fig.  8.  Triptolemos 
Triptolemos  is  setting  forth  on  his  mission  to  bring  the  cereal  fruits  and  the  linowl- 
edge  of  agriculture  to  mankind.  In  the  version  followed  by  the  painter  the  car  is  not 
drawn  by  dragons,  but  flies  through  space  on  winged  wheels.  Perhaps  the  wheel  was 
onginally  the  sun's  disk.  From  a  red-figured  Ukythos  of  the  fifth  century  B.C..  found  at 
Gela  (Monumenti  Antichi,  ivii,  Plate  XIX). 

and  by  tasting  of  it  she  magically  bound  herself  to  return  to 
Hades  after  a  time  spent  above.  In  the  golden  chariot  she  was 
conveyed  to  Eleusis,  where  her  mother  welcomed  her  with 
an  outburst  of  joy,  and  when  a  message  from  Zeus  came  to 
Demeter  announcing  that  Persephone  could  thenceforth  re- 


230 


CIRKI.K   AND   ROMAN   MVTIIOLOCV 


main  witli  her  during  two  parts  i)f  the  year,  spending  only 
tlio  tliird  part  below,  she  forgot  her  sorrow  and  consented  to 
rejoin  the  gods  on  Olympos.  Moreover,  summoning  the  rulers 
of  the  land,  Triptolcmos,  Eumolpos,  Diokles,  and  Keleos,  she 
made  them  the  ministers  of  her  worship  and  revealed  to  them 
the  manner  of  performing  her  secret  holy  rites,  rites  which 
would  confer  upon  initiates  a  peculiar  blessedness  in  the  after- 
life beneath  the  earth. 

Demettr  and  Triptolemos.  — The  story  explaining  the  signifi- 
cance of  Dcmcter  in  agricultural  pursuits  may  be  reconstructed 
by  combining  several  sources.  Triptolemos  was  the  son,  accord- 
ing to  the  variant  versions,  now  of  Okeanos  and  Ge,  now  of 
Eleusis,  and  now  of  Keleos,  ranking,  as  son  of  this  last  named, 
either  as  the  oldest,  or  as  the  youngest  whom  Dcmeter  nursed 
on  her  coining  to  Eleusis.  In  her  affection  for  him  she  taught 
him  to  yoke  oxen  and  to  till  the  soil,  and  gave  him  the  first 
corn  to  sow.  In  the  rich  plains  about  Eleusis  he  reaped  the 
first  harvest  of  grain  ever  grown,  and  there,  too,  he  built  the 
earliest  threshing-fioor.  In  a  car  given  him  by  Demeter  and 
drawn  by  winged  dragons,  he  fiew  from  land  to  land,  scattering 
seed  for  the  use  of  men,  and  for  this  Keleos  ordered  his  death, 
but  Demeter,  hearing  of  the  intention,  removed  the  king  and 
gave  the  throne  to  Triptolemos.  It  is  said  that  when  he  found 
that  a  pig  had  rooted  up  his  first  sowing,  he  took  the  animal 
to  the  altar  of  his  benefactress,  and,  placing  grains  of  corn  on 
its  head,  slew  it  as  an  offering,  whence,  ever  afterward,  the  pig 
was  sacrificed  in  this  same  manner  in  the  worship  of  Demeter. 

The  Nature  of  Persephone.  —  Persephone,  who  was  generally 
known  in  cult  as  Kore  ("Daughter"),  was  obviously  an 
offshoot  of  Gaia,  the  earth  goddess,  and,  therefore,  a  dupli- 
cate of  Dcmcter.  The  mother  and  daughter  represented  two 
phases  of  the  vegetative  power  of  the  soil,  the  first  standing  for 
the  entire  power,  latent  or  active,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year; 
and  the  second  typifying  rather  the  potency  in  its  exuberant 
youthful  aspect,  manifested  chiefly  in  the  renewed  growth  of 


II 


I 


PLATK,    K 

iVlvsTIC    RiTIS    AT    ElEUSM 

The  proper  order  of  analysis  of  this  scene  proceeds 
from  lefi  to  right.      First,  one  observes  a  gnarled  and 
twisted  tree,  the  sacred  iaurcl  which  keeps  evil  influ- 
ences away  from  the  sanctuary.     Next,  there  is  an 
altar  from  which  rises  a  flame  surrounded  by  a  circle 
ot  fruits.      The  first  two  human  figures  arc  the  youth- 
ful lakchos  and  Demeter,  the  latter  seated  on  a  fawn- 
skin  spread    over    the  so-called    mystic  chest,  about 
which  a  serpent  has  wound  its  coils.     The  headless 
female  figure  next  in  order  is   Kore,  in  the  roU  of 
divine  hierophant,  who  with  lowered  torches  is  cleans- 
ing the  soil  just  as  Demeter  purifies  the  air  with  a 
flame  held  aloft.     On  the  throne  of  expiation  sits  the 
initiate  with  veiled  head  and  resting  his  feet  on  the 
sanctifying  fleece  of  a  ram,  while  before  him  a  male 
hierophant  bows  over  a  low  altar  on  which  the  flesh 
of  the  ram  is  being  burned,  and  with  his  right  hand 
pours  water  on  the  fire.     On  the  opposite  side  stands 
Dionysos  grasping  a  torch,  and  at  the  same  time  pour- 
ing a   liquid,  probably  wine,  from   a  iantharos  upon 
the  flame  of  the  altar.      Behind  the  god  is  a  female 
divinity  who  is  doubtless  to  be  identified  as  Hekate. 
From  a  relief  on  a  marble  sarcophagus  found  at  Torre 
Nuova  {RMitt.  xxv,  Plate  I).     See  pp.  231-32. 


THE  GREATER  GODS  —  DEMETER,  KORE     231 


spring.  As  may  readily  be  gathered,  the  seizure  of  Persephone 
as  it  occurred  in  the  myth,  and  her  subsequent  espousal  to 
Hades  for  four  months  of  each  year,  are  but  graphic  representa- 
tions of  the  annually  recurring  period  during  which  vegeta- 
tion practically  ceases.  Our  knowledge  of  the  meaning  of  the 
name  Persephone  is  incomplete;  the  second  part  is  certainly 
related  to  the  base  of  the  verb  (fyaiveiv,  "to  show,"  but  of  the 
first  we  arc  entirely  ignorant. 

The  Mysteries  of  Eleusis. — Like  the  nature  cult  of  Dionysos, 
that  of  Demeter  developed,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  wor- 
shipper, along  two  different  lines.  Working  along  the  one,  it 
aimed  to  supply  physical  needs,  and  along  the  other,  spiritual 
wants,  the  first  touching  society  in  the  mass,  while  the  second 
aflfected  the  individual.  It  is  with  the  latter  influence  that  we 
are  most  concerned,  although  in  reality  the  two  lines  were  but 
one;  the  difference  was  a  matter  of  interpretation. 

The  Eleusinia,  or  Mysteries  of  Eleusis,  took  place  just  prior 
to  the  autumn  sowing.  They  began  on  the  fifteenth  day  of 
the  month  Boedromion  (roughly,  September)  and  lasted  for 
ten  days,  or  a  few  more  according  to  the  historical  pen.'d,  the 
entire  festival  being  divided  into  four  distinct  ceremonial  acts. 
The  first,  which  covered  four  or  five  days,  consisted  in  the 
assembling  of  the  properly  qualified  mystai,  i.  e.  candidates 
for  initiation,  in  impressing  upon  them  the  duties  of  silence, 
secrecy,  and  purity,  and,  finally,  in  giving  them  a  ritual  puri- 
fication. In  the  second  the  mystai,  departing  from  Athens  at 
daybreak  and  usually  reaching  Eleusis  late  at  night,  advanced 
in  procession,  dancing,  singing  hymns,  sacrificing  at  the  shrines 
by  the  way-side,  swinging  torches,  and  bearing  the  image  of  the 
infant  lakchos,  or  Dionysos.  The  next  act  involved  concerted 
efforts  of  the  mystai  to  awaken  in  themselves  the  emotions  that 
stirred  the  heart  of  Demeter  in  her  search  for  her  daughter. 
At  night,  with  torches  in  their  hands,  they  would  roam  about 
the  sea-shore,  as  she  had  done,  haunting  those  places  which 
tradition  still  associated  with  her.  As  each  candidate  beheld  his 


m 


M 


I  • 
I 


•11 


1  ■  ''!-! 


232 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


neighbour  doing  the  same  thing  as  himself,  and  presumably 
tlirough  the  same  motives,  the  meaning  of  the  ceremony  was 
driven  deeply  into  his  soul,  giving  a  thousandfold  intensifica- 
tion to  his  belief  in  the  reality  oi  Demeter's  power,  drawn 
from  her  own  sorrow,  to  sympathize  with  the  heartbreak  of 
mortals.  When  the  mystai  had  all  become  one  with  the  god,  and 
therefore  with  one  another,  they  appropriately  partook  of  food 
and  drink  in  common  and  together  handled  certain  sacred  ob- 
jects. Concerning  the  last  act  we  are  told  only  the  barest 
outline,  so  sacredlj'  did  tlie  initiates  keep  their  vows  of  secrecy. 
Substantially  all  wc  know  is  that  the  votaries  gathered  to- 
gether in  the  great  Hall  of  Initiation  and  there  witnessed  cer- 
tain performances,  probably  of  a  dramatic  character  and  based 
on  the  experiences  of  the  divine  mother  and  daughter.  They 
listened,  too,  t  weird  sounds  produced  by  the  hierophant  and 
his  associates,  and  into  both  sight  and  sound  the  spectators, 
with  their  fancy  quickened  by  long  and  intense  contemplation 
of  holy  things,  read  meanings  which  were  not  at  all  warranted 
in  fact.  \\'hen  the  secret  rites  were  over,  the  festival  ter- 
minated with  public  games 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Mysteries  of  Eleusis  effected 
much  good  in  Greece  While  the  bare  substance  of  their  teach- 
ing was  practically  the  same  as  that  of  the  cult  of  Dionysos, 
they  were  much  superior  as  a  spiritual  tonic,  so  to  speak,  in 
that  they  strengthened  the  finer  feelings  and  relied  less  upon 
wanton  extravagance  of  action;  and  many  a  despondent  man 
became  filled  with  a  saving  hope  at  the  thought  that  he,  too, 
could  know  the  immortal  joy  of  Demeter. 

Demeter  and  Kore  in  Art.  —  Prior  to  the  fourth  century 
art  had  not  devised  two  distinct  types  for  the  mother  and  the 
daughter,  and  in  many  cases  inscriptions  are  necessary  to  iden- 
tify them  severally.  Both  goddesses  were  rhown  with  that 
serious  air  which,  reflecting  a  past  sorrow,  has  become  a  part 
of  their  character.  In  the  later  art  Demeter  appeared  as  a 
matron,  scr.tcd  or  standing,  her  head  crowned  with  the  lofty 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — HADES 


233 


polos  or  covered  with  the  folds  of  her  robe,  her  emblems  being 
the  torch,  sceptre,  bowl,  and  sheaf.  In  function  she  was  now 
the  bcstower  of  grain,  and  now  the  grief-worn  mother.  Per- 
sephone became  distinctively  maidenly  in  form,  face,  and 
dress;  as  a  chthonic  divinity  she  held  a  torch,  and  as  a  queen 
a  sceptre. 

HADES 

When  the  kingdom  of  the  universe  wrested  from  Kronos 
was  divided,  the  dominion  of  the  invisible  realm  beneath  the 
earth  was  given  to  his  son  Hades.  He  was,  therefore,  not  a 
place,  after  our  modern  way  of  thinking,  but  a  person,  and  his 
name,  which  to  the  Greek  signified  "the  unseen,"  betrayed  at 
once  his  dwelling-place  and  his  general  functions.  These 
simple  statements  of  myth  seem  to  disclose  at  a  single  glance 
the  complete  story  of  Hades  from  the  very  inception  of  his 
career  as  a  divinity,  but  in  reality,  as  we  shall  see  later  on, 
they  are  deceptive,  for  the  manner  and  stages  of  his  growth 
are  by  no  means  certain. 

While  Homer  generally  speaks  of  this  nether  god  as  Hades, 
in  one  passage  he  knows  him  as  "Zeus  of  the  underworld," 
yet,  although  suggestions  of  royal  power  accompany  mentions 
of  him,  real  kingly  attributes  are  lacking.  His  chief  function 
is  to  put  into  effect  the  curses  uttered  by  men  against  their 
fellows,  and  the  practice,  which  continued  to  a  late  day,  of 
invoking  his  name  in  oaths  was  a  recognition  of  his  power  to 
discharge  this  duty,  tor,  when  one  bound  himself  to  destruc- 
tion at  the  hands  of  Hades  in  event  of  failure  to  keep  a  solemn 
pledge,  he  was  giving  utterance  to  a  conditional  curse.*  From 
this  most  unlikely  source  the  god  derived  what  little  moral 
significance  he  had,  although  at  the  best  it  was  of  a  negative 
character.  His  relation  to  the  principle  and  to  the  enforce- 
ment of  retribution  is  seen  in  a  rather  moralizing  genealogy 
which  makes  him  the  father  of  the  Erinyes. 

The  various  appellations  and  titles  of  Hades  throw  light 


234         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

upon  his  nature,  and,  indeed,  the  commonest  form  of  his  name, 
which  we  have  just  used,  had  much  to  do  in  shaping  his  char- 
acter. Through  its  obvious  reference  to  the  unseen  abode  of 
the  dead  and  because  of  its  formal  association  with  curses, 
which  are  nothing  else  than  injury  by  magic,  the  word  became 
so  foreboding  of  ill  that  men  could  not  take  it  easily  upon  their 
lips.  It  was  very  natural  to  deny  to  such  a  name  the  beneficent 
power  that  gave  increase  to  the  crops  and  herds,  so  that,  as  a 
consequence,  the  worship  of  Hades  dwindled  away  and  the 
enlargement  of  his  personality  was  arrested.  Only  in  Elis 
did  he  have  a  temple  and  a  cult  under  this  name,  although  as 
the  earth  god  Trophonios  he  dispensed  oracles  in  his  cave  at 
Lebadeia  in  Boiotia,  while  his  title,  Zeus  Eubouleus,  with  its 
evident  suggestion  of  the  wisdom  of  his  counsel,  is  a  distinct 
echo  of  his  oracular  functions.  As  Plouton  (Pluto)  or  Plouteus 
he  is  the  divinity  who  enriches  men  with  the  abun'^-'nce  of 
the  field  and  the  fecundity  of  the  flocks,  whence  Plouios,  the 
son  of  Demetcr  .md  lasion,  is  apparently  none  other  than  a 
double  of  Hades. 

With  the  data  available  it  is  impossible,  as  has  already  been 
hinted,  to  state  in  just  what  form  Hades  first  emerged.  It  may 
be  that  it  was  in  the  aspect  in  which  he  was  known  to  Homer, 
as  the  lord  of  the  departed,  but  if  so,  he  could  scarcely  have  been 
a  product  of  the  worship  of  ancestors,  for  nowhere  do  we  find 
any  Greek  stock  tracing  its  descent  back  to  him.  A  much 
more  probable  theory  is  that  Hades  was  given  a  being  in  the 
mind  of  the  Greek  worshinper  in  answer  to  the  demand  that, 
for  the  sake  of  absolute  uniformity  in  the  divine  government 
of  the  universe,  the  lower  world,  like  the  upper,  should  have 
its  own  separate  ruler.  Hence  Hades  was  a  nether  Zeus,  and 
exercised  over  the  assembled  souls  a  dominion  akin  to  that  of 
his  greater  brother  over  the  hosts  of  the  living,  both  human 
and  divine. 

Hades  in  Art.  —  One  need  not  go  far  to  find  a  reason  for  the 
fact  that  .iadcs  was  comparatively  neglected  by  the  artists. 


THE  GREATER  GODS  — HADES 


235 


Except  in  Etruscan  paintings,  he  is  generally  shown  in  his 
beneficent  aspects,  the  cornucopia  placed  in  his  hrnds  stamping 
him  as  the  bestower  of  abundance,  the  eagle  sometimes  perched 
on  his  sceptre  or  on  his  cap  marking  him  as  the  Zeus  of  his  own 
special  realm.  His  nether  functions  are  suggested  by  a  dense 
mass  of  hair,  which  generally  falls  forebodingly  over  his  fore- 
head. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   LESSER   GODS -OF   THE   CIRCLE   OF 
ZEUS,  OF   LIGHT,  AND  OF  HEAT 

OF  THE   CIRCLE  OF  ZEUS 

pURYNOME.—\\^  have  already  met  with  Eurynome,  the 
beautiful  daughter  of  Okeanos,  as  one  of  the  wives  of  Zeus, 
and  there  is  a  story  concerning  her  to  the  effect  that,  long 
before  her  marriage,  she  and  the  Titan  Ophion  together  ruled 
the  universe  from  the  summit  of  Olympos,  but  were  at  length 
forced  to  give  place  to  Kronos  and  Rhea.    If  she  was  actually 
as  IS  reasonably  to  be  suspected  from  her  parentage,  a  per- 
sonification of  the  "wide-ruling"  element  of  moisture,   this 
legend  may  record  a  very  old  belief  that  in  the  beginning  the 
earth  was  entirely  covered  with  water  and  afterward  emerged 
from  It  by  degrees.    Eurynome  holds  an  inconspicuous  place 
in  myth,  and  remains  little  more  than  a  symbol  of  the  far- 
rcaching  dominion  of  her  husband. 

Charites  ("Grar..").  _  Eurynome  is  best  known  through 
the  Charites,  the  lovely  daughters  who  blessed  her  marriage 
with  Zeus,  and  who  were  at  first  conceived  as  gracious  divinities 
that  caused  the  soil  to  bring  forth  flowers  and  fruit  for  the  use 
of  man,  although  they  were  not  yet  endowed  with  the  joyful 
spirits  and  unaffected  charms  which  have  made  them  a  fa- 
vourite study  of  poet  and  artist.    A  brief  legend  testifies  .o  the 
sombre   character  of  their  worship   in   the   island  of  Paros 
Minos  was  offering  sacrifices  to  them  here  when  word  came 
to  him  that  his  son  Androgcos  had  been  killed,  whereupon 
distraught  with  sorrow,   he  commanded  the  flute-players  to 
cease  their  music  and  tore  the  garlands  from  his  head.    From 


II 


PLATE    LI 


Helios 

Helios,  with  radiate  head,  ascends  in  his  car,  drawn 
by  four  winged  horses,  out  of  the  eastern  sea,  and  the 
stars  (the  small  boyish  figures)  disappear  one  by  one 
in  the  water  or  beneath  the  horizon.  From  a  red- 
figured  krater  of  the  first  part  of  the  fifth  century 
B.C.,  in  the  British  Museum  (Furtwangler-Reichhold, 
Gritckische  I'astnmaltrei^  No.  126).     See  pp.  241  fF. 


The  Horai 

The  Horai  (thus  named  by  the  artist)  are  here 
represented  in  their  original  character  as  divinities  of 
vegetation  and  fruitfulness.  The  first  carries  '"hat 
seems  to  be  a  fig-branch;  the  second  bears  two 
branches,  the  larger  of  which  is  laden  with  pome- 
granates 1  and  the  third  holds  a  plucked  f.ut  on  the 
tip  of  her  hand.  From  a  red-figured  kylix  ol  the 
fifth  century  h.c,  in  Berlin  (Furtwangler-Rci.hhold, 
Griechische  VasenmaUrei^'^o.  123).     See  pp.  237-38. 


THE  LESSER  GODS -CIRCLE  OF  ZEUS      237 

that  day,  the  legend  explains,  flutes  and  garlands  were  no 
longer  used  in  the  worship  of  the  Charites,  this  suggesting  that 
their  rites  took  place  during  that  gloomy  season  of  the  year 
when  vegetation  had  disappeared.  In  contrast  to  their  worship 
was  their  gladdening  bounty  of  springtime,  this  irresistible 
infection  touching  their  personalities,  and  in  time  transforming 
them  from  elemental  nto  spiritual  forces.  Thenceforth  they 
were  divorced  from  natural  objects  as  such,  and  stood  for  those 
subtle  qualities  in  persons  and  in  things  pertaining  to  the  social 
life  of  man  which  beget  the  purest  joy  and  happiness.  They 
were  associated,  for  instance,  with  tasteful  dress,  with  the 
various  forms  of  art,  and  with  personal  and  household  orna- 
ments, and  this  connexion  throws  light  on  their  relations  to 
Aphrodite  and  to  the  craftsman-god  in  the  well-known  spring- 
song  of  Horace :  — 

"Now  Cytherea  leads  the  dance,  the  bright  moon  overhead; 
The  Graces  and  the  Nymphs,  together  knit, 
With  rhythmic  feet  the  meadow  beat,  while  Vulcan,  fiery  red. 
Heats  the  C/clopian  forge  in  Aetna's  pit."  ' 

The  Charites  are  generally  held  to  be  three  in  number,  Hesiod 
giving  their  names  as  Aglaia  ("Splendour"),  Thaleia  ("Luxu- 
riant Beauty"),  and  Euphrosyne  ("Good  Cheer"). 

Themis. — The  second  wife  of  Zeus,  according  to  the  ac- 
count in  the  Tkeogony  of  Hesiod,  was  Themis  ("Justice"), 
and,  as  we  have  pointed  out  elsewhere,  she  is  a  form  of  the 
great  earth  goddess.  Her  primary  role  apparently  was  that 
of  controlling  the  cycle  of  the  seasons,  and  so  regularly  did  she 
bring  about  the  periods  of  productiveness  that  men  came  to 
look  upon  her  as  a  power  to  whom  they  could  appeal  for  the 
elucidation  of  matters  in  which  human  arbiters  failed.  In 
brief,  she  became  an  oracular  goddess,  and  the  righteousness 
of  her  deliverances  established  her  as  the  personification  of 
justice  and  equity. 

Horai    ("Hours").  — The    Horai    who,    according   to   He- 
siod, were  Eunomia   ("Order"),  Dike   ("Law"),  and  Eircne 


238 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


("Peace"),  inherited  in  name  the  social  traits  of  their  mother 
Themis,  but,  in  respect  to  their  origin,  her  terrestrial  cliar- 
actrristics.  They  seem  at  tlie  outset  to  liave  liad  to  do  with 
tlie  seasfinal  stimulation  of  plant  life;  it  was  iliey  who  adorned 
the  newly-created  Pandora  with  garlands  of  vernal  blossoms, 
and  every  spring  and  autumn  they  were  lK)noured  at  Athens 
with  a  procession  and  were  given  otTirings  of  the  fruits  of  the 
earth.  \Ve  are  told  that  here  tliese  divinities  were  called 
Thallo  ("Blotmi"),  Auxo  {"Growth"),  and  Karpo  ("Fruit- 
age"), but  we  cannot  be  sure  that  these  are  the  official  names. 
In  late  tirncs  the  Horai  were  often  regarded  as  the  houis  of 
the  day. 

Mnemosyne;  The  Muses.  —  By  her  union  with  Zeus,  Mne- 
mosyne ("Memory")  did  more  than  serve  as  a  living  re- 
minder of  his  power;  she  brought  him  the  nine  comely  daugh- 
ters, the  Muses,  who  by  their  many  and  varied  gifts  have 
done  much  to  give  charm  to  the  life  of  mankind.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  they  sprang  from  the  same  stratum  of  elemen  al 
powers  as  the  Graces  and  the  Hours,  and  it  certainly  appeals 
to  one's  poetic  sense  to  find  personified  in  them  the  musical 
voices  of  the  rivulet  and  of  the  foliage  of  the  forest,  although 
we  arc  probably  much  nearer  to  real  fact  if  we  assign  to  them 
the  psychic  origin  which  is  claimed  f'^r  tlieir  mother.  One 
modern  writer '  advances  the  very  a>.c>.ptable  explanation 
that  they  were  "the  mental  tension  that  relieves  itself  in 
prophecy  and  song,"  the  stress  to  which  Tennyson '  alludes 
when  he  says  that 

"For  the  unquiet  heart  and  brain 
A  use  in  measured  language  lies." 

As  men  became  more  and  more  conscious  of  this  state  of 
mind,  they  tended  to  dissociate  it  from  themselves  and  to 
attribute  an  independent  existence  to  it;  how  it  became  plural- 
ized  wc  cannot  outline,  but  may  only  fancy. 

The  native  abode  of  the  Muses  was  in  the  extreme  north  of 


THE  LKSSER  GODS -CIRCLE  OF  ZEUS     239 

Hollas;  hence  their  kinship  with  the  Zeus  of  Olympos  and  their 
association  with  Orpheus/  At  Delphoi  they  became  attached 
to  Apollo,  and  in  the  south  Mount  Helikon  in  Boiotia  was 


Fig.  9.    Mnemosyne  and  Kalliope 

Mnemosyne,  a  beautiful  and  dignified  m/itron,  stands  holdinff  a  scroll  as  she  gazes 
sympatheticallv  on  her  daughter,  the  Muse  Kalliope,  who  is  scaled  before  her  r'ayinff 
on  a  sevcn-stringcJ  kithara  (zither).  This  is  the  first  recorded  instance  in  which  -Mne- 
mosyne is  definitely  identified  by  the  presence  of  her  name  in  the  vase-paintings. 
From  a  red-figured  lekythos  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  found  at  Gela  (Monumenti  Antiihi, 
xvii,  Plate  XX\1). 


Their  permanent  centre.    We  know  of  many  Greek  states  in 
which  Mouseia,  or  schools  under  the  patronage  of  the  Muses, 
were  established  for  the  advanced  education  of  the  youth. 
The  Muses  were  recognized  in  groups  of  various  numbers; 


240 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   M\THOLCGY 


but  that  in  which  nine  were  enumerated  became  fixed  as  the 
standard,  although  the  diflFcrentiation  of  their  functions  and 
personalities  took  place  only  late  and  not  always  along  logical 
lines.  The  nine  were  formally  divided,  as  shown  in  the  ap- 
pended table,  into  three  classes  corresponding  to  the  great 
departments  of  literature. 


Name 

I  Kalliope  ("Sweet-Voiced") 
Epos      1  Kleio  ("Praise") 

;  Ourania  ("Heavenly") 
f  Kr.tto  ("Loveliness") 
Terpsichore    ("Delight    ir   the 

Uance") 
K.uterpe  ("Delight") 
Melpomene  ("Song") 
Tlialeia  ("Luxi.riant  Beauty") 

Polymnia  ("Many  Hymns") 


Sphere  AxTRiBirrE 

Heroic  Epic  Writmp-tablct 

Historical  Epic  Scroll  or  writing-tablet 

Astronomical  Epic    Globe 
Zither 


Lyric 


Drama  - 


Love-lyric 

Choral  lyric 

Flute  music 
Tragedy 
Comedy 

Religious     hymns 
and  pantomime 


Lyre 

Flute 

Tragic  mask 
Comic  mask 

No  definite  attribute 


Ganymedes.  —  The  story  of  Ganymedes,  the  beautiful  son 
of  Tros  of  Ilion,  is  found  in  its  most  attractive  form  in  the  per- 
suasive words  of  Aphrodite  addressed  to  Anchises  in  the 
Homeric  Hymn  to  Aphrodite.^  "Indeed  counselling  Zeus 
snatched  away  golden-haired  Ganymedes  for  his  beauty's 
sake  that  he  might  dwell  with  the  immortals  and  in  the  home 
of  Zeus  be  a  cup-bearer  to  the  gods,  a  marvel  to  look  upon, 
held  in  high  honour  as  he  pours  the  ruddy  nectar  from  a 
golden  bowl.  And  inexorable  grief  possessed  the  soul  of  Tros, 
nor  did  he  know  whither  the  divine  whirlwind  had  hurried  his 
dear  son.  Then  indeed  did  he  mourn  him  unceasingly  day  after 
day.  And  Zeus  had  pity  on  him  and  gave  him  as  a  recompense 
for  hi'-  son  swift  steeds,  such  as  draw  the  immortals.  These 
he  gave  him  as  a  gift,  and  Hermes  at  the  behest  of  Zeus  told 
him  clearly  that,  like  the  g^/;  ,  he  should  never  die  nor  know 
old  age."  In  the  most  widely  known  form  of  the  story  Gany- 
medes was  borne  aloft  by  an  eagle,  or  by  Zeus  in  the  guise  of 
an  eagle.  He  seems  to  stand  for  the  healthy  beauty  and  joy  of 
youth,  and  is  a  male  counterpart  of  Hebe  in  her  later  aspects. 

Hehe.  —  In  origin  Hebe  ("Youth")  seem'-,  to  have  been 
more  than  the  mere  personification  of  the  charms  of  youth  or 


THE   LESSER   GODS  -  LUMINARIES  241 

of  the  well-preserved  beauty  of  her  mother,  Hera,  for  she  was, 
rather,  a  spring  divinity  of  flowers  akin  to  the  Horai  and 
Charites,  or  perhaps  she  was  the  earth  goddess  herself,  re- 
garded as  in  the  prime  of  maidenhood.    The  legend  which 
makes  her  the  child  of  Zeus  is  undoubtedly  not  so  old  as  that 
in  whi-h  she  is  born  of  a  strange  union  between  Hera  an  J  a 
k    f  ul    Icttuco,  and  the  not  improbable  suggestion  has  been 
a(  vanccd  that  Hi  be  was  in  a  very  early  period  the  equivalent 
o,  ^^ir  10,  the  spo  ise  of  Zeus  at  Dodona,  and  that  with  the  amal- 
gau.atior.  of  tli;  two  stocks  whose  chief  deities  were  Zeus  and 
Hera,  Hebe  was  thrust  from  her  place  and  a  myth  was  created 
to  give  her  legitimate  standing  as  a  daughter  in  the  new  family. 
Like  the  other  children  of  Zeus  and  Hera,  she  never  enjoyed  any 
great  distinction;  her  role  was  always  that  of  an  attendant. 
In  the  Iliad  she  is  the  maiden  cup-bearer  to  the  Olympians, 
and   on   one   occasion    she    helps   Hera   get  her   chariot   and 
horses  ready  for  a  journey,  while  at  another  time  she  per- 
forms the  rather  menial  task  of  preparing  the  bath  for  the  dust- 
begrimed  Ares  on  his  return  from  a  battle. 

Ins.  —  Iris  is  no  more  than  a  personification  of  the  rainbow. 
Like  the  rainbow,  she  comes  and  goes  without  warning,  while 
her  speed  of  movement  and  her  pathway  across  the  heavens 
fit  her  for  the  post  of  messenger  of  the  gods.  She  is  clothed  in 
the  bright  colours  becoming  to  youth,  and  on  golden  wings  she 
flits  from  place  to  place,  performing  the  errands  of  her  greater 
companions,  notably  Zeus  and  Hera.  In  her  representations 
m  art  she  is  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  other  winged 
figures,  except  when  she  is  shown  as  bearing  a  herald's  wand. 


OF  THE  GREATER   LUMINARIES 

Hehos  ("Sun").  — From  a  remote  time  many  phases  of 
the  sun's  power  had  been  observed  by  the  Greeks  with  an  atten- 
tion which  was  akin  to  adoration,  but  only  in  a  few  places  did 
this  develop  into  genuine  worship;  for  the  sun  was  altogether 


242 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


too  corporeal  an  object  to  appeal  strongly  to  the  religious 
fancy.  Yet  it  must  have  aroused  in  the  mind  some  feeling  of 
divinity,  inasmuch  as  it  was  the  daily  practice  of  the  Greek  to 
rise  at  dawn  and  greet  the  sun  with  a  kiss  of  the  hand;  and  very 
early  this  luminary  became  a  freqi""nt  theme  in  myths,  although 
little  by  little  these  legends  lost  their  distinctive  solar  char- 
acteristics in  the  popular  consciousness. 

In  myth,  Helios  is  the  son  of  Hyperion  and  Euryphaessa 
("Far-Shining"),  both  of  them  Titan  children  of  Ouranos 
and  Gaia,  and  Hyperion  ("High-Going")  being  transparently 
another  name  for  Helios  himself.  Helios  took  as  his  wife 
Perse  ("Gleaming"),  the  daughter  of  Okeanos,  their  children 
being  Kirkc,  the  sorceress  of  the  West,  and  Aictes,  the  father  of 
Medcia,  the  sorceress  of  the  East.  Pindar  relates  the  story  of 
another  marriage  which  is  of  prime  importance  in  our  study, 
having  to  do,  as  it  does,  with  the  chief  centre  of  the  sun-cult 
among  the  Greeks.  When  the  jurisdiction  of  the  various 
departments  of  the  world  was  apportioned,  it  happened 
that  Helios,  being  absent,  was  forgotten,  but  although,  on 
discovery  of  the  error,  Zeus  wished  to  make  a  new  division, 
Helios  dissuaded  him  from  so  doing,  stating  that  he  was  willing 
to  receive  as  his  share  an  island  which  he  beheld  rising  from 
the  sea.  Tins  Zeus  granted  him,  and  wedding  the  nymph 
Rhodos  (or  Rhode),  the  daughter  of  Amphitrite,  Helios  gave 
her  name  to  the  island  and  named  the  three  cities  of  Rhodes 
after  three  of  their  sons.  Helios  is  also  said  to  have  had  as  wives 
Leukothoe,  Klytia,  and  Ncaira,  the  last  of  whom,  according 
to  Homer,  bore  him  two  daughters,  Lampetie,  who  tended  her 
father's  cattle,  and  Phaethousa,  who  shepherded  his  sheep. 
There  were  seven  herds  of  cattle  and  seven  of  sheep,  each 
comprising  fifty  animals;  that  is,  there  were  three  hundred 
and  fifty  of  each  kind,  and  Aristotle  is  probably  right  in  seeing 
in  these  a  reference  to  the  days  and  nights  of  a  lunar  year. 
The  herds  were  genera'ly  located  either  in  Sicily  or  Crete. 

The  appearance  of  the  sun  in  the  heavens  reminded  the 


PLATE    LT 

Ganymedes  and  th,    Eai;le 

"Though  the  copy  is  but  an  inadequate  rendering 
of  the  original,  it  serves  to  show  the  originality  and 
power  of  the  composition,  which  almost  transcends 
the  bounds  of  sculpture  in   its  addition  of  surround- 
ings and  accessions  to  enhance  the  effect.     A  high 
tree-trunk  forms  the  background  and  support  for  the 
whole,  which  is  must  skilfully  constructed,  so  that  the 
feet  of  the   hov  do   not  touch   the  ground,  and   the 
wonderful  upward  sweep  of  the  whole  composition  is 
enhanced  by  the  contrast  with  the  dog,  who  sits  on 
the  ground  and  looks  upward  after  his  master.     The 
outspread  wings  of  the  eagle  form  a  broad  summit  to 
the  group  from  which  it  gradually  narrows  down  to 
the  feet  of  Ganymede,  and  thus  the  effect  is  further 
mcreased.     Eagle  and  boy  alike  strain  upward  in  an 
aspiration  l,ke  that  which  Goethe  expresses    in    his 
poem  of  Ganvmede.     There  is   no  hint  of  sensual 
meaning  in  the  treatment  of  Leocharcs;  the  eagle  is 
merely  the  messenger  of  Zeus;  and  we  can  see  in  his 
grip    of  the    boy  the    care   which   Pliny    mentions" 
(E.    A.    Gardner,   A    Handbook   of   Greet    Sculpture^ 
P-  37^)-     From  a  Roman  marble  copy,  now  in  the 
Vatican,  of  a   fourth  century  original  by   Leochares 
(  Brunn-Bruckmann,  Denkmdler  griechischer  und  rim- 
ncher  Sculptur,  No.  158).      See  p.  24O. 


!«'  , 


'S 


THE  LESSER  GODS  -  LUMINARIES  243 

Greeks  of  a  variety  of  objects  —  a  ball  of  fire,  a  head  with 
streaming  golden  hair,  an  eye,  a  bow  bristling  with  arrows,  or 
a  spoked  wheel  —  but  the  most  commanding  and  persistent 
likeness  which  they  saw  was  that  of  a  chariot  and  horses. 
Poets  gave  the  four  steeds  names  suggestive  of  the  sun's  out- 
standing properties  and  had  them  feed  on  the  same  ambrosial 
herb  which  made  Glaukos  immortal.    Homer  follows  Helios's 
course  across  the  heavens  from  his  ascent  out  of  the  stream  of 
Okcano3  in  the  cast  to  his  descent  in  the  western  reaches  of 
the  same  stream,  describing  each  stage  with  a  wealth  of  epi- 
thet. The  puzzle  of  the  sun's  nightly  return  from  the  west  to  the 
east   the   Greeks   lightly   dismissed   with    legendary   explana- 
tions.   Some  said  that  there  was  a  land  of  light  whose  bound- 
aries embraced  both  east  and  west,  and  whose  inhabitants  — 
a  good  and  kindly  folk  —  stabled  Helios's  steeds  each  even- 
ing and  led  them  out  each  morning.    Others  declared  that 
Helios,  chariot  and  all,  was  conveyed  eastward  every  night 
in  a  golden  goblet,  although  one  poet,   more  appropriately, 
understands  that  the  conveyance  was  a  bed  instead  of  a  drink- 
ing-vesscl. 

Helios  had  genuinely  ethical  functions,  and  as  one  who  took 
in  the  whole  world  at  a  glance  he  was  invoked  in  oaths. 
After  the  murder  of  Klytaimestra,  Orestes  appealed  to  him 
as  a  witness  of  his  mother's  establishment  of  a  precedent  in 
crimr^,  and  together  with  Hekate  he  was  a  witness  of  the 
seizure  of  Persephone.  Not  only  did  he  make  clear  the  path 
of  goodness  and  purity  to  those  who  sought  to  walk  in  it,  but 
he  was  pure  himself,  as  he  showed  when  he  shrank  from  the 
slaughter  of  the  house  of  Atreus. 

On  Rhodian  coins  Helios  is  shown  as  in  the  full  bloom  of 
youth,  from  whose  head,  covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  hair, 
radiate  streams  of  light. 

Phaethon.  —  In  Phaethon  ("Gleaming  One")  we  cannot  fail 
to  recognize  once  more  the  person  of  Helios,  but  he  !ias  no 
standard   genealogy,   being  in   one   myth    the   youthful    son 


.n 


;i 


244         GREEK  AND   ROM.vX   XnTHOLOGY 

of  Eos  and  Kcphalos  whom  Aphrodite  seized  and  set  to 
guard  her  temple  by  night,  while  elsewhere  he  is  the  son  of 
Helios,  either  by  the  sea-nymph  Klymene  (jr  by  Rhode.  The 
most  famous  legend  which  grew  up  about  his  name  recounts 
that  he  coaxed  his  father  until  he  obtained  permission  to 
drive  the  fiery  chariot  of  the  sun  for  a  single  day,  but  i  ncc  he 
lacked  his  parent's  skill  in  handling  the  reins,  the  swift  horses 
soon  got  beyond  his  control.  In  their  mad  career  they 
descended  too  low,  and  the  flame  of  the  car  caused  such 
great  heat  and  so  terrible  a  drought  upon  earth  that  Libya 
became  forever  a  desert,  the  people  of  Aithiopia  took  on  a 
black  hue,  and  the  channels  of  mighty  rivers  were  dried; 
but  at  length  Zeus  smote  Phaethon  with  a  thunderbolt  and 
he  fell  from  his  car  into  the  river  Eridanos.  His  seven  sisters, 
weeping  over  his  body,  were  turned  into  poplars  (or  poppies) 
and  their  tears  became  beads  of  amber  (or  rubies),  while  the 
Eridanos  was  given  a  place  among  the  constellations.  One 
version  states  that,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  drought  and 
the  conflagrations  raging  upon  earth,  Zeus  filled  the  channels 
of  the  rivers  to  overflowing  and  the  Great  Flood  of  Deukalion 
came  to  pass.  The  story  of  Phaethon  probably  had  its  roots 
in  an  ancient  festival  in  which  the  death  of  vegetation  in  the 
heat  of  midsummer  was  celebrated  by  mourning." 

St'lt'ne.  —  Selene  ("Moon")  was  too  transparently  a  defi- 
nite material  body  to  become  invested  with  the  many  and 
varied  traits  whicli  go  to  make  up  a  great  personality.  She 
was,  in  consequence,  generally  conceived  merel}'  as  a  planet 
with  feminine  characteristics,  for  the  softness  of  her  light  ap- 
pealed to  the  Greeks,  as  it  does  to  us,  as  very  feminine  in  com- 
parison with  the  more  virile  light  of  the  sun.  Homer  never 
fully  deified  her,  and  even  in  the  later  period,  when  her  divin- 
ity was  somewhat  enlarged,  she  yielded  up  all  her  moral  at- 
tributes to  Artemis  and  Hekate.  The  regularity  of  her  phases 
was  altogether  too  mechanical  to  give  to  the  Greek  religious 
imagination  that   freedom  of  action  which   could  create  an 


THE   LESSER  GODS  -  PHASES  OF  LIGHT     245 

cntirc  circle  of  gods  out  of  phenomena  only  vaguely  com- 
prehended or  out  of  pure  illusion.  The  family  relationships 
of  Selene  arc  confused.  In  one  passage  she  is  the  daughter 
of  Zeus,  but,  again,  she  is  the  sister,  or  daughter,  or  wife  of 
Helios,  and  as  his  wife  she  bore  to  him  Pandia,  "a  daughter  of 
surpassing  beauty  among  the  immortal  gods."  From  her  as- 
sociation with  Helios  she  was  conceived  as  riding  across  the 
heavens  in  a  car  drawn  by  horses  or  bulls,  but  very  often 
poetical  allusions  to  her  car  are  patently  metaphors. 

The  classic  legend  of  Selene  is  that  which  tells  of  her  love 

for  Endymion,  the  son  of  Acthlios.  One  night  she  looked  down 

from  the  clear  heavens  upon  this  youth  as  he  was  sleeping  near 

his  flocks  on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Latmos  in  Karia,  and  at  the 

sight  of  his  beauty  a  tide  of  affection  rose  in  her  heart  which 

her  will  was  unable  to  stem.    Coming  down  from  heaven,  she 

stooped  and  kissed  him  and  then  lingered  near  him  till  dawn 

as  he  slept  on,  repeating  these  visits  night  after  night  until 

her  absences  excited  suspicion  among  her  divine  companions. 

When  at  length  the  cause  of  them  became  known,  Zeus  gave 

Endymion   the  choice  between  death   and  an  endless  sleep, 

and,  choosing  the  latter,  he  may  still  be  found  asleep  on  the 

mountain-side,   visited   each    night   by   his   pale   lover,    who 

keeps  a  careful  watch  over  his  flocks. 

OF  PHASES  OF  LIGHT 

^os.  —  Eos  ("Dawn"),  the  Roman  Aurora,  was  very  early 
considered  the  equal  of  the  great  luminaries,  this  being  clear 
evidence  of  the  importance  of  the  return  of  the  day  to  a 
primitive  people  lacking  the  means  of  producing  strong  and 
stciidy  artificial  light.  Eos  not  only  brought  the  dawn,  but  she 
was  the  dawn.  She  slept  in  her  home  among  the  Aithiopians, 
and,  wakening  when  her  hour  came,  rose  from  the  stream  of 
Okeanos;  or,  again,  she  was  thought  to  keep  watch  at  the  fron- 
tiers of  Day  and  Night,  driving  Night  to  the  underworld  and 


U.S 


246 


GREEK  AND   RC.vIAX   MYTHOLCKiV 


lotting  Day  g<>  f<irth  after  the  morning  star  had  heralded  the 
return  of  the  light.  According  to  Homer,  the  sun  spent  the 
hours  of  darkness  near  her  so  that  at  his  appointed  time  she 
could  call  forth  his  gleaming  chariot.  It  was  she  who  roused 
the  breeze  of  morning  and  sprayed  the  grass  with  refreshing 
dew.  Sometimes,  like  the  sun,  she  was  conceived  as  riding  in  a 
car  drawn  by  two  or  by  four  horses,  but  often  she  was  thought 
to  move  by  running,  or  by  flying  with  wings  growing  from  her 
shoulders  and  feet.  S'  c  is  commonly  represented  in  art  as 
winged  and  with  her  hair  streaming  behind  her  as  she  speeds 
forward. 

Eos  was  uniformly  the  daughter  of  Hyperion,  and,  there- 
fore, the  sister  of  tielios  and  Selene.  She  had  a  notorious 
penchant  for  beautiful  joung  hunters,  for  e.\ample,  Kephalos 
and  Orion,  and  another  of  her  lovers  was  Tithonos,  a  brother 
of  Priam  of  Troy.  Enamoured  of  his  beauty,  she  carried  him 
off  in  her  chariot  to  the  land  of  the  Aithiopians,  and,  inasmuch 
as  he  was  a  mere  mortal,  she  besought  Zeus  to  grant  him  endless 
life.  Zeus  granted  her  request,  but  she  had  forgotten  to  ask 
also  for  the  boon  of  eternal  youth,  so  that,  after  many  years, 
Tithonos  wasted  away  with  the  steady  advance  of  old  age, 
and  became  only  a  burden  to  himself  and  to  Eos.  To  get  him 
out  of  the  way  she  enclosed  him  in  a  room  from  which  only 
the  faint  cry  of  his  voice  could  emerge,  and  finally,  to  end  his 
misery,  she  changed  him  into  a  cicada.  Their  children  were 
Memnon,  who  fell  at  Troy,  E  'athion,  and  Hcmcra.  It  is 
customary  to  account  for  Tithonos  as  the  regular  return,  the 
waxing,  and  the  waning  of  the  day,  and  to  explain  Memnon, 
the  dusky  Aithiopian,  as  the  darkness  between  evening  twi- 
light and  the  dawn,  while  Emathion  (cf.  vfiap,  "day")  and 
Hemcra  are  masculine  and  feminine  conceptions  of  the  day. 

Helen  and  the  Dioskouroi.  —  Helen,  in  myth  the  wife  of 
Mcnclaos  and  Paris,  has  been  considered  by  a  number  of 
scholars  as  originally  a  divinity  of  light,  being  identified  now 
with  the  moon,  now  with  the  red  of  dawn,  and  now  with  the 


THE   LESSER  GODS  —  STARS  247 

phcnomcnr.n  f.f  a  single  orb  of  St.  Elmo's  fire.  This  last  was 
held  to  be  fraujfht  with  evil,  while  the  appearance  of  the  twin 
globes,  represented  by  Hekn's  brothers,  the  Dioskouroi,  was 
regarded  as  favourable.  Some  scholars  believe  thai  the  Dios- 
kouroi were  at  first  daemons  of  the  morning  and  evcninr 
twilight.' 


|1 


OF  SINGLE  STARS  AND   CONSTELLATIONS 

Jstraios,  Phosphoros,  Eos  phoros.  —  AsUaios  ("Starry 
Heaven")  was  accounted  the  son  of  the  Titan  Krios  and 
Eurybia,  but  any  lustre  that  attached  to  his  name  was  a 
reflection  of  that  of  the  children  whom  Eos  bore  him — 
Eosphoros,  or  Phosphoros,  and  the  winds  Argestes,  Zephyros, 
Boreas,  and  \otos.  The  allegorical  character  of  this  parentage 
is  clear  at  a  glance. 

Eosphoros    ("Dawn-Bearer")     and    Phosphoros     ("Light- 
Bearer")  are  two  names  for  the  morning  star,  the  planet  \'enus, 
whose  Latin  name,   Lucifer,  is  a  translation  of  Phosphoros! 
In  the  myths,  Eosphoros  was  united  in  marriage  with  Philonis 
(or   Kleoboia),  by  whom  he  became   the   father  of   Philam- 
mon,  a  son,  and  Stilbe  ("Flash"),  a  daughter  whose  name  is 
a  manner  of  recording  the  fact  of  the  unusual  brilliancy  of  the 
morning  star.*  He  was  conceived  as  the  forerunner  of  the  sun 
and  the  dawn,  speeding  forward  on  a  white  horse,  or  a  chariot. 
Like  Phaethon,  he  was  taken  away  by  the  love-smitten  Aphro- 
dite to  be  night-watcher  in  her  temple  —  an  aetiological  ex- 
planation of  the  absence  of  his  star  from  the  heavens  until 
just  before  daybreak— and  he  was  considered  to  have  the  power 
of  fructifying  the  crops.   Art  portrayed  him  in  the  company  of 
other  divinities  of  light  as  a  youthful  rider  bearing  a  torch. 

Hesperos.  —  Not  until  a  comparatively  late  day  was  Hes- 
peros  (Latin  Vesper),  the  evening  star,  identified  by  the  an- 
cients with  the  morning  star.  In  the  field  of  myth  he  was 
called  the  son,  and  again  the  brother,  of  Atlas,  and  he  had  a 


!48 


r.RKF.K   AND  ROMAN   MVIHOKKIY 


Jaiik'htrr  Hcspt'ris,  wlid  as  ilu-  uifc  of  Alias  bore  the  seven 
Atlaruides  (or  Iksper'uies).  For  an  obvious  reason  he  was  al- 
wa\s  assoeialeJ  with  ti.e  west,  but  when  he  sealed  tlie  lofty 
peak  of  Athis  to  j;aze  at  the  stars,  a  storni-wiiui  suiUienly 
snatched  liini  away,  and  he  was  seen  no  more.  Nevertiieless, 
lie  was  honoured  as  divine,  and  the  bri^'htest  stellar  body  in 
the  western  heaven  was  given  iiis  name,  while  the  memory  of 
his  piety  and  loving  nature  lived  after  him  among  men,  so 
that  his  orb  was  known  as  the  star  of  love,  that  is,  of  Aphro- 
dite, or  \'enus,  its  religious  importance  lying  iti  the  case  with 
which  the  dates  of  festivals  could  be  determined  from  its 
periodic  movements. 

Plt-iadts  and  H  y  a  J  rs.  —Owing  to  their  conspicuous  char- 
acter, constellations  received  much  more  attention  among  the 
ancients  than  did  single  stars,  and  two  groups,  c>ne  of  seven 
stars  and  the  other  of  five,  whicii  appear  in  the  constellation 
of  Taurus,  were  known  to  the  (ireeks  in  fact,  are  still 
known  to  us  —by  the  names  of  Pleiades  and  Hyades  respec- 
tively, these  bel.inging  among  the  earliest  attested  star  names. 
In  Homer,  Hephaistos  depicts  llii'  I'leiades  on  the  sh'- Id  of 
Achilles,  and  by  them  Od\  sseus  holds  his  course  for  Scheria. 
They  and  the  Hyades  were  said  to  have  been  originally  the 
dauglUers  of  Atlas  through  a  union  with  Pleione  or  Aithra, 
but  wlien  their  brother  Hyas  was  killed  by  some  creature  of 
the  wild,  all  twelve  died  of  grief,  and  Zeus  accorded  them 
places  among  the  stars.  One  ancient  author,  however,  mothered 
them  on  the  queen  of  the  .\mazons.  .\s  for  the  Hyades  as  a 
separate  group,  a  well-known  legend  identifies  tlunn  with  the 
attendants  of  Dionysos  who  were  pursued  b\'  Lykourgos,  but 
who,  after  they  had  safely  delivered  their  ward  to  Ino,  fled  to 
their  grandmother  Tethys  and  were  appointed  a  constella- 
tion by  Zeus.  The  names  of  the  individual  Pleiades  and  Hyades 
vary  to  such  an  extent  that  no  purpose  would  be  served  by 
their  recital  here. 

\'ery  early  the  Greeks  fancied  thut  they  saw  in  the  Pit  iades 


'i'S\ 


iiiV 


PLATE   LIII 

The  Death  of  Aktaion 

Anemis,  carrying  a  quiver  on  her  back  and  wearing 
a  fawn-skin  over  her  shoulders  and  breast,  braces  her- 
self to  draw  her  bow  as  she  places  an  arrow  on  the 
string.  Before  her  Aktaion  is  falling  to  the  ground 
overpowered  by  his  four  maddened  dogs,  which  leap 
upon  him  and  tear  his  flesh.  From  a  red -figured 
irater  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.  (Furtwangler-Reichhold, 
Griechische  fastnmaierei.  No.  115).      See  p.  252. 


■4\ 


m 


mm 


THE   LESSER  GODS  —  STARS 


249 


a  swarm  of  wood  doves,  and,  indeed,  many  scholars  seriously 
entertain  the  belief  that  their  name  was  derived  from  the  word 
veXeiai  ("doves").  The  ancients  themselves  ranged  widely  in 
their  attempts  to  find  the  source  of  the  name  of  the  Hyades. 
To  some  the  peculiar  resemblance  of  the  form  of  the  stellar 
group  to  a  capital  T  supplied  at  once  an  initial  impulse  and  an 
initial  letter  for  the  formation  of  'To'Se?,  although,  because  of 
the  Hyades'  relations  to  fertility,  others  discovered  a  connexion 
between  their  name  and  that  fertile  animal,  the  pig  {is). 
The  most  popular  derivation,  however,  was  apparently  that 
which  linked  the  appellation  with  the  verb  veiv  ("to  rain"), 
for  the  seasons  of  their  early  rising  and  their  early  setting  were 
notoriously  rainy.  A  certain  type  of  vase-picture  shows  the 
influence  of  this  traditional  association,  since  it  depicts  Al- 
kmene  as  being  saved  from  a  burning  pyre  by  the  arrival  of 
two  Hyades,  who  extinguish  the  flames  with  water.  The 
rising  and  the  setting  of  both  Hyades  and  Pleiades  divided  the 
year  into  two  parts,  the  portion  between  May  and  November 
marking  the  period  of  safe  navigation. 

Or'm.  —  In  treating  of  Orion  one  must  bear  in  mind  that 
the  name  stands  both  for  a  constellation  and  for  a  mythical 
personage,  and  although  the  frequent  confusion  of  the  two 
makes  it  impossible  to  say  with  certainty  which  was  the 
original,  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  some  of  the  sagas  of 
Orion  developed  without  reference  to  the  stellar  group.  Homer, 
for  instance,  knows  the  two  forms  as  distinct,  although  he  does 
not  always  treat  them  as  such.  Were  we  to  rely  solely  upon 
him,  we  should  incline  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Orion  of 
myth  came  first  in  point  of  time  and  was  afterwards  imported 
into  the  realm  of  the  stars;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  late  Greek 
and  Roman  writers  allude  only  to  the  constellation. 

This  stellar  group  is  situated  near  Taurus  and,  therefore, 
near  the  Pleiades  and  Hyades,  and  owuig  to  its  peculiar  shape 
it  was  also  called  the  Cock's  Foot,  or  the  Double  Axe.  The 
period  of  the  early  rising  of  Orion  and  Sirius,  the  dog-star 


m 


iM 


%% 


250 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


(i.  c.  Juno),  marks  the  end  of  tho  rainy  season  and  ushers  in 
the  heat  of  summer,  while  the  Pleiades  and  Hyades  at  the  time 
of  their  early  setting  (November)  disappear  from  the  western 
sky  ahead  of  Orion  and  Sirius,  as  if  driven  away  by  them.  In 
these  astronomical  facts  one  can  read  without  further  com- 
mentar\'  the  meaning  of  some  of  the  myths  which  concern 
these  constellations. 

In  the  Homeric  epic  Orion,  the  meaning  of  whose  name  is 
unknown,  was  a  hunter  of  remarkable  beauty  and  of  a  stature 
that  exceeded  even  that  of  the  giants  Otos  and  Ephialtes. 
Eos  cast  looks  of  love  upon  him  and  carried  him  away  to  her 
dwelling,  but  her  inordinate  happiness  over  her  good  fortune 
aroused  the  anger  of  the  go-^s,  and  Artemis,  deceived  by  a  trick 
of  Apollo,  with  her  noiseless  shafts  gave  Orion  an  early  death 
in  the  island  of  Ortygia  (Dclos).  Together  with  Leto  she  set 
him  among  the  stars,  while  in  Hades  his  shade,  armed  with  a 
brazen  club,  continued  to  pursue  and  kill  the  wild  beasts  which 
he  had  hunted  in  life. 

In  the  legends  of  Boiotia,  Orion  was  a  hero  born  of  the  soil 
in  Tanagra  or  Thebes.  Once,  when  Pleione  and  her  large 
family  of  daughters  were  passing  through  Boiotia,  he  accosted 
them,  and  although  they  immediately  turned  and  fled,  for  five 
continuous  years  he  relentlessly  pursued  them  until,  moved 
by  the  unhappy  plight  of  the  women,  Zeus  exalted  them 
all  to  the  heavens,  where  the  pursuit  still  goes  on.  Side,  the 
wife  of  Orion,  dared  to  vie  in  beauty  with  Hera,  and  for  her 
boldness  was  consigned  to  Hades. 

In  other  cycles  of  myth  Orion  w-as  the  son  of  Poseidon  and 
Euryale,  the  daughter  of  Minos,  and  his  father  endowed  him 
with  the  gift  of  moving  swiftly  over  the  sea,  either  by  striding 
across  it,  or  by  walking  through  it  with  his  head  high  and 
dry  above  the  waves,  or,  again,  by  using  the  islands  as  gigantic 
stepping-stones.  From  Boiotia  he  made  his  way  to  Chios, 
where  he  married  the  daughter  of  King  Oinopion,  but,  par- 
taking too  liberally  of  the  vintage  of  his  father-in-law,  he 


THE  LESSER  GODS  — HEAT  251 

became  intoxicated   and   attempted   a   serious  crime   against 
hospitality,  whereupon  Oinopion  put  out  his  eyes  and  drove 
him  out  of  his  home.    As  Orion  wandered  about,  he  chanced 
to  reach  Lemnos  and  there  he  found  Hephaistos,  one  of  whose 
servants  guided  him  to  the  sunrise,  where  the  light  of  the  solar 
rays  made  his  eyes  whole  again.   He  then  gave  himself  over  to 
searching  for  Oinopion  that  he  might  punish  him  for  his  cruel 
deed,  but  failing  to  find  him,  he  at  last  joined  Artemis  in  the 
chase  in  Crete  and  there  was  killed  by  the  sting  of  a  scorpion. 
Ursa  Major,  or  Great  Bear;  Bodies.  —  The  peculiar  arrange- 
ment of  the  stars  in  the  constellation  known  as  Ursa  Major 
has  always  attracted  the  attention  of  the  peoples  of  the  north- 
ern hemisphere.    Homer  knew  it  both  as  the  Bear  and  as  the 
Chariot,  and  the  suggestion  of  its  appearance  as  a  vehicle  is 
perpetuated   in   a   couple   of  its   English   names  —  Charles's 
Wain,  or  the  Great  Wain  —  whereas  the  utilitarian  American 
eye  sees  it  as  the  Great  Dipper.  The  Greeks  explained  its  desig- 
nation as  the  Bear  by  the  story  of  the  Arkadian  Kallisto, 
near  whom  in  the  heavens  was  placed  her  son  Arkas  in  the 
form  of  the  stellar  group  sometimes  known  to  the  ancients 
as  Arktophylax  ("Guardian  of  the  Bear"),  but  generally  as 
Bootes  ("Ox-Driver ").« 


OF  MIDSUMMER  HEAT 

Aristaios,  Sirius  (Greek  Seirios),  Aktaion.  —  As  the  legends 
which  follow  more  than  hint,  Aristaios  was  an  agricultural 
god  of  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Greece,  and  in  spite  of 
his  frequent  confusion  with  Apollo,  he  seems  to  have  been 
originally  not  a  sun-god,  but  a  personification  of  the  period  of 
cooling  Etesian  winds  which  gave  relief  to  man  and  beast 
and  crop  during  the  burning  dog-days. 

Apollo  is  said  to  have  espied  the  beautiful  nymph  Kyrene 
hunting  amid  the  foothills  of  xMount  Pelion,  and  overcome 
by  his  passion,  he  bore  her  away  in  his  golden  car  to  Libya, 


252         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

wlurc  he  wedded  her.   In  process  of  time  she  became  the  mother 
of   \rislaios,  and  Hermes  took  the  child  to  his  great-grand- 
mother Gaia,  who  in  her  turn  entrusted  him  to  the  Hours. 
These  maidens  nurtured  him  on  nectar  and  ambrosia,  thereby 
making  him  an  immortal,  and  later  he  was  trained  by  Cheiron 
in  the  arts  of  manhood,  while  the  Muses  instructed  him  in 
healing  and  prophecy,  and  from  certain  nymphs  he  learned  the 
culture  of  the  olive,  dairying,  and  bee-keeping,  fable  declaring 
that  he  visited  almost  every  land  in  the  Mediterranean  basin 
in    his  successful  efforts   to   establish   these  rural    industries 
among  men.    On  one  occasion  he  went  to  the  island  of  Keos 
when  the  heat  of  Sirius  was  causing  a  plague  to  spread  among 
the  Aegean  islands,  and  raising  an  altar  to  Zeus  Ikmaios,  a 
divinity  of  moisture,  he  put  an  end  to  the  plague  by  the  reg- 
ular offering  of  sacrifices  to  him  and  to  Sirius.    Zeus  sent  the 
Etesian  winds  to  blow  for  forty  days  and  cool  the  atmosphere, 
thereby   acquiring   for   himself   the   title   Aristaios    ("Best"), 
and  by  following  the  example  of  Aristaios  in  offering  sacrifices 
the  people  of  the  island  were  thenceforth  able  each  year  to 
mitigate  the  extreme  heat  of  midsummer.    Aristaios  married 
Autonoc,  a  daughter  of  Kadmos,  and  by  her  became  the  father 
of  Aktaion,  of  whose  unhappy  fate  we  have  read  in  the  stories 
of  Thebes.    Aktaion  personified  the  strong  plant  growth  of 
spring  withered  by  the  parching  heat  of  the  summer  weeks, 
and  the  madness  of  his  dogs  is  a  graphic  representation  of  the 
supposed  result  of  the  heat  upon  these  animals,  an  effect  which 
is  still  popularly  recorded  in  the  expression  "dog-days." 

linos.  —The  story  of  Linos  affords  an  excellent  illustration 
of  the  manner  in  which  a  myth  and  a  personality  could  be 
evolved  from  religious  rites.  The  name  seems  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  sad  refrain  ai  lenu  ("woe  to  us"),  occurring 
in  Semitic  ritual  songs  in  which  the  parching  of  vegetation 
under  the  summer  sun  was  lamented,  while  the  ceremonies 
rested  on  the  wide-spread  belief  that  daemons  of  heat  and 
drought  run  about  like  ravening  dogs. 


THE  LESSER  GODS  — HEAT  253 

The  parentage  of  Linos  varied  according  to  the  localization 
of  his  story.    In  Argos  he  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and  the  prin- 
cess Psamathc,  and,  exposed  by  his  mother  for  fear  of  her 
father,  he  was  found  by  the  king's  hounds  and  torn  to  pieces 
In  anger  at  his  child's  death,  Apollo  dispatched  a  monster 
called  Po.ne  ("Punishment")  to  tear  children  from  the  wombs 
of  the  Argive  women,  but  when  the  people  rose  up  and  slew 
the  creature,  they  only  brought  on  themselves  a  plague  from 
which  they  suffered  until  they  gave  Apollo  a  temple  in  their 
city.    Another  version,  however,  relates  that  the  plague  was 
sent  because  the  king  killed  Psamathe,  and  that  it  was  ended 
only  when  the  women  of  Argos  appeased  the  souls  of  Linos  and 
his  mother  with  ceremonial  prayers  and  dirges.    Elsewhere  in 
Hellas  Linos  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and  the  Muse  Kalliope,  or 
again,  of  Amphiaraos  and  Ourania.    As  the  son  of  the  latter 
pair  he  was  killed  by  Apollo  because  in  a  song  he  rashly  likened 
his  gifts  to  those  of  the  god,  and  was  buried  on  the  slopes  of 
Mount  Helikon  nearest  to  Thebes.    From  the  song  developed 
the  singer  and  lyre-player,  and  in  this  capacity  Linos  became 
the  music-teacher  of  Herakles,  although,  as  we  have  recorded 
among  the  deeds  of  that  mighty  hero,  he  met  a  violent  death 
at  the  hands  of  his  choleric  pupil.  To  the  musical  gifts  of  Linos 
rnyth  gratuitously  added  others  of  an  allied  nature,  crediting 
him  with  having  been  the  first  to  use  in  the  writing  of  Greek 
the   letters   brought   from   Phoinikia   by   Kadmos,   and   also 
declaring  that  he  was  a  grammarian,  and,  like  Orpheus,  the 
author  of  philosophical  works. 

Luyerses. —  The  personality  of  Lityerses  ("Prayer  for 
Dew"),  who  was,  according  to  the  legends,  a  son  of  Midas, 
also  grew,  in  part,  out  of  a  midsummer  song.  Under  the  pre- 
tence of  hospitality,  he  made  a  practice  of  luring  passers-by 
into  his  palace,  but  once  they  were  in  his  power,  he  would  take 
them  to  the  harvest  fields,  wrap  them  in  sheaves,  and  cut  ofl^ 
their  heads,  until  at  length  Herakles  came  on  the  scene  and, 
killing  him,  threw  his  body  into  the  Maeander  River.  Another 


fil 


y 


254 


CREEK   AND   ROMAN   M\THOLOGY 


form  of  the  story  represents  Litycrses  as  engaging  in  mowing 
contests  in  the  fields.  On  achieving  victory  in  each  contest 
he  would  cruelly  scourge  his  defeated  competitor,  but  in  the 
end  he  was  himself  defeated  by  a  stronger  mower.  In  these 
stories  a  combination  of  several  features  may  be  observed. 
The  scourging  is  an  allusion  to  the  primitive  practice  of  whip- 
ping up  laggard  mowers,  and  the  treatment  accorded  to  the 
last  mower  reflects  an  ancient  custom  which  was  designed  to 
insure  successful  reaping  on  the  following  day,  while  the  dis- 
posal of  the  prince's  body  in  the  river  seems  to  be  a  fanciful 
portrayal  of  a  magic  rite  to  produce  dew. 


,t*:!| 


ik  > 


PLATE    LIV 


Linos  Slain  by   Heraki.es 

Linos,  the  kneeling  tigure,  has  been  knocked  down 
bv  Herakles  with  a  fragment  of  a  chair,  which  can  be 
partly  seen  lying  on  the  floor  in  the  background,  and, 
a  he  attempts  to  defend  himself  with  his  Ivre,  is  in 
danger  of  being  struck  again  by  another  piece  of  the 
chair  brandished  in  the  hand  uf  his  pupil.  I'he 
youthful  comrades  of  Herakles,  some  thoroughly 
terror-stricken,  others  manifesting  a  desire  to  help 
their  master,  stand  helplessly  looking  on.  High 
in  the  background  to  the  left  is  a  writing-tablet. 
F'rom  a  red-figurtd  kylix  of  the  style  of  Douris  (early 
Hfth  century  b.c),  in  Munich  (Furtwangler-Reich- 
hold,  Griechische  f'asenmaUrei,  No.  1 05).  See  pp.  79, 
^52-53- 


'% 


.I-ii 


Mi 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE   LESSER  GODS      OF  WATER,   WIND, 
AND   WILD 

"And  hark,  below,  the  many-voiced  earth, 
'I  he  chantinp  of  the  old  riji^'iou^  trees. 
Rustle  of  far-off  uitcrs,  woven  sounds 
Of  small  and  multitudinous  lives  awake, 
Peopling  the  grasses  and  the  pools  with  joy, 
L  tiering  their  meaning  to  the  mystic  night." 

'T^HESE  words  of  Pyrrha  in  Moody's  Fire-Bringer  interpret 
A  for  us  the  peculiar  appeal  of  terrestrial  nature  to  the 
Greek  far  better  than  a  multitude  of  w.ll-turned  periods  of  the 
most  logical  prose,  and,  moreover,  through  suggestion  they 
subtly  reveal  that  the  sources  of  the  appeal  are  as  nunurous 
as  arc  the  departments  of  nature.  It  is  hopeless  for  us  to  think 
of  obtaining  for  this  presentation  a  just  and  adequate  classifi- 
cation of  these  departments;  if  only  we  obtain  a  convenient 
one,  we  must  be  content. 

OF  THE  WATER 

Okeanos  and  the  Okeanides.  —  When  Pausanias  '  makes  the 
statement  that  Okeanos  "is  not  a  river,  but  the  farthest  sea 
that  is  navigated  by  men,"  he  is  assuming  the  role  of  the  en- 
lightened teacher  and  is  consciously  correcting  an  ignorant 
public,  for  from  the  age  of  Homer,  and  doubtless  before,  men 
had  no  other  thought  than  that  it  was  a  deep  refluent  stream 
of  fresh  water.  Homer  distinguishes  clearly  between  it  and 
the  salt  sea,  the  Mediterranean,  and  deems  It  the  father  of 


li 


256         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

all  being,  human  and  di'.  ..lu  the  source  of  all  mundane 

waters.  Hesiod  accounts  Ok.-anos  as  the  son  of  Ouranos  and 
Gaia,  and  the  husband  of  his  natural  counterpart,  Tcthys,  by 
whom  he  begat  the  rivers,  brooks,  and  springs  of  earth  —  three 
thousand  divine  daughters,  the  Okeanidcs,  and  three  thousand 
divine  sons.  Nine  parts  of  the  water  of  Okeanos,  says  Hesiod, 
flow  about  earth  and  sea,  while  the  tenth  part  becomes  the 
Styx  and  flows  underneath  the  earth,  bursting  out  again 
through  a  rocky  opening. 

As  to  the  location  of  Okeanos,  we  are  told  that  it  is  the  outer 
boundary  of  the  upper  world  and  also  the  border  between  the 
nether  world  and  the  heavens.  The  Kimmerians  dwelt  on  its 
northern  shore,  the  Aithiopians  on  the  eastern  and  the  west- 
ern, and  the  dwarflike  Pygmies  on  the  southern;  but  nowhere 
in  Greek  literature  is  it  even  hinted  that  people  believed  in  the 
existence  of  a  further  and  outer  shore. 

In  art  Okeanos  is  shown  reclining  like  the  river-gods,  but  he 
can  be  distinguished  from  them  by  his  possession  of  a  steering 
oar  or  by  the  presence  of  sea  animals  near  him. 

Rivers.  —  The  belief  in  the  divinity  of  rivers  was  general 
among  the  Greeks,  this  doubtless  arising  from  the  speed  and 
strength  of  their  cuiTents  down  the  steep  mountain  valleys 
as  well  as  from  their  stimulating  influence  upon  vegetation. 
They  usually  passed  as  the  sons  of  Okeanos,  but  sometimes  as 
the  sons  of  Zeus;  their  relations  to  Poseidon  are  not  clear. 
They  were  conceived  as  being  now  of  human  form,  now  of 
animal  shape,  now  of  a  combination  of  the  two.  The  Acheloos, 
for  example,  appeared  to  men  with  the  body  of  a  bull  and  the 
head  of  a  man  bearded  and  horned,  while  in  human  shape  the 
Skamandros  talked  and  fought  with  Achilles,  and  was  in  turn 
attacked  by  Hephaistos.  In  Homer  the  river-gods  are  found 
in  the  great  council  of  Zeus. 

The  chief  function  of  the  rivers  was  the  bestowal  of  fertility, 
and  so  important  was  this  to  the  growth  and  even  to  the  exist- 
ence of  many  communities  that  rivers  were  often  worshipped 


THE  LESSER  GODS  -  OF  WATER  257 

as  the  founders  both  of  the  local  stocks  and  of  the  local  culture 
The  Asopos  occupied  this  high  place  in  Phlious  and  Sikyon 
the  Inachos  in  Argos,  the  Peneios  in  Thessaly,  the  Eurotas  in 
Sparta,  and  the  Kephisos  in  Boiotia,  while  the  role  of  the 
Acheloos  is  obvious  in  his  gift  of  the  Horn  of  Plenty  to  Hera- 
kles,  and  such  rivers  as  the  Kaikos  of  Mysia  and  the  Himeros 
of  Sicily  were  thought  to  possess  powers  of  healing  disease  and 
of  averting  harm.  The  many  early  stories  which  tell  of  the 
union  of  human  maidens  with  river-gods  apparently  go  back 
to  rites,  partly  religious,  partly  magical,  in  which  young  women 
just  prior  to  marriage  were  made  fertile  by  bathing  in  the 
waters  of  a  river. 

A  pretty  story  is  told  of  the  river  Alpheios  of  Elis.  At  first 
Alpheios  was  a  huntsman  who  fell  in  love  with  Arethousa  a 
huntress  maiden,  but  she  refused  his  advances  and  crossed 
over  the  sea  to  the  little  island  of  Ortygia  before  the  harbour  of 
Syracuse,  where  she  was  transformed  into  a  fountain  of  fresh 
water.    In  despair  Alpheios  became  a  river,  but  since  his  love 

•named  unchanged,  he  made  his  way  beneath  the  sea  until 
i.e  came  to  Ortygia  and  there  mingled  with  the  outflow  of  the 
spring. 

Springs  (Nymphs). -Tho  first  nymphs  were  the  Naiads, 
who  dwelt 

"By  deep  wells  and  water-floods, 
Streams  of  ancient  hills,  and  where 
All  the  wan  green  places  bear 
Blossoms  cleaving  to  the  sod."  ' 

That  is  to  say,  they  were  spirits  of  the  springs,  and  from  them 
developed,  by  very  natural  processes,  the  marks  and  func- 
tions of  the  nymphs  of  hill  and  forest.  In  the  life-giving  ele- 
ment of  the  springs  the  Greeks  fancied  that  they  saw  a  kind  of 
female  fruitfulncss,  whence  the  fundamental  meaning  of  the 
name  vv,,^r,  ("bride")  embodies  the  idea  of  pregnancy,  al- 
though by  long  usage  the  word  became  less  and  less  strict  in 
its  application  until  at  last  it  could  be  appropriately  used  to 


ii 


:*'*. 


fia 


.1  it 


258 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


designate  also  the  Nereids  and  Okeanids,  who  essentially  be- 
longed to  the  larger  waters;  the  Oreads,  or  mountain-spirits; 
and  even  the  Dryads  and  Hamadryads.  In  their  proper  sphere, 
which  included  all  places,  like  caves  and  marshes,  where 
moisture  gathered,  the  nymphs  were  as  potent  as  was  Posei- 
don over  the  sea  or  Demcter  over  the  earth,  and  from  their 
conception  as  feminine  powers  in  the  bloom  of  youth  they  ac- 
quired all  sorts  of  maidenly  characteristics.  They  danced  and 
sang,  and  ceaselessly  made  merry  in  their  woodland  retire- 
ment; they  were  the  nurses  of  the  infants  Dionysos  and  Zeus; 
and,  again,  they  were  the  chaste  attendants  of  Artemis; 
while  tiirougli  their  fresh  charms  they  won  many  lovers  from 
among  both  gods  and  men. 

In  myth  the  nymphs  are  as  a  rule  simply  the  daughters  of 
Zeus;  the  name  of  a  mother  is  seldom  mentioned,  although  the 
Melian  nymphs  come  into  being  from  the  blood  of  Ouranos, 
and  in  the  Orphic  hymns  all  nymphs  are  the  offspring  of 
Okeanos.  Once  in  Homer  the  nymphs  appear  upon  Olympos, 
and  they  plant  elms  about  the  tomb  of  Andromache's  father. 
A  group  of  Naiads  inhabits  the  island  of  Ithake.  In  various 
places  the  divinities  of  many  of  the  famous  springs  were  re- 
puted to  have  originally  been  women,  most  of  whom  had  been 
drowned,  the  stories  of  the  fountains  of  Peirene  and  Glauke  at 
Corinth  and  of  Kirke  at  Thebes  being  excellent  ilk' nrations 
of  this  manner  of  myth-making.  There  were  also  nymphs  of 
cities  who  were  the  daughters  of  the  important  rivers  of  the 
neighbourhood  and  who  were  in  many  instances  wedded  to 
the  local  eponymous  hero.  Some  of  these  divinities  were 
credited  with  the  gift  of  foretelling  the  future,  a  belief  which 
was  derived  not  so  much  from  the  poetic  fancy  that  running 
water  talks  as  from  the  conviction  that  the  drinking  of  certain 
waters  produced  a  state  of  inspiration.  Indeed  the  epithet  of 
"nymph-smitten"  was  applied  to  persons  wrought  up  to  pro- 
phetic ecstasy. 

The  worship  of  the  nymphs  was  generally  limited  to  special 


THE  LESSER  GODS -OF  WATER  259 

spots  in  the  open  air,  as  in  groves,  on  the  slopes  of  hills,  or  be- 
side  streams  and  natural  fountains.  Garlands  of  flowers  were 
the  common  offerings  of  the  worshippers,  but  very  often  cereals 
and  animal  victims  were  also  given. 

The    S.^.- Owing  to  their  proximity  to  the  sea  and  to 
their  manifold  interest  in  it  as  a  source  of  life  and  as  a  high- 
way, the  Greeks  were  from  the  remotest  times  much  attracted 
by  Its  numerous  phases.  Calm  and  storm  and  the  various  grada- 
tions between  these  conditions  meant  to  them  safety  or  danger 
The  countless  forms  of  marine  life  opened  a  wide  field  for  the 
free  play  of  their  fancy,  while  the  uncertainty  of  the  sea's 
depths  and  shallows  and  reefs  kept  them  in  a  constant  state 
of  wonder.  The  only  feature  of  the  sea  about  which  there  was 
any  assurance  was   its   aqueous   character  and   this  was   so 
obvious  that,  like  Selene,  the  sea  never  became  sufficiently 
divinized  to  be  the  proper  material  for  myth.   Those  phases 
on  the  other  hand,  which  were  marked  by  vagueness  or  vast- 
ness,  or  were  susceptible  of  limitless  variation,  were  eagerly 
seized  by  the  myth-making  mind.    Pontos,  for  instance,  was 
the  sea   in   its  aspect  as  a  boundless  barren  tract,  whereas 
Phorkys,  the  grey  son  of  Plouton  and  Gaia,   together  with 
his  wife,  Keto  represented  in  themselves,  and,  in  part,  in  their 
offspring  (Skylla,  the  Graiai,  and  the  Gorgons),  the  monstrous 
elements  of  the   sea,  while  the  many  arms  of  the  Aegean 
reaching  far  into  the  recesses  of  the  mainland  and  islands' 
were  personified  by  the  hundred-handed  Briareos,  or  Aigaion' 
Atlas,  "who  knoweth  the  depths  of  every  sea,  and  himself 
stays  the  towering  pillars  which  keep  earth  and  sky  apart  "» 
IS  really  not  a  mountain,  but  rather  the  sea-billow  on  which 
the  heavens  seem  to  rest. 

rn/o«.- Triton  is  a  figure  of  the  roaring  of  the  sea  and 
the  larger  bodies  of  fresh  water.  He  was  known  as  the  son 
of  Poseidon  and  Amphitrite  and  dwelt  with  them  in  a  golden 
palace  beneath  the  waves,  although  his  special  home  seems  to 
have  been  in  Lake  Kopais  of  Boiotia.  The  Greeks  pictured  him 


mi 

m 


1'  '>^ 


I 


26o 


GREEK  AND   ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


as  driving  a  horse-drawn  chariot  over  the  sea  and  as  holding 
a  trident,  or  a  dolphin,  or  a  drinking-horn  in  his  hand;  but 
his  chief  attribute  was  a  sea-shell,  on  which  he  used  to  blow 
loudly  or  softly  according  as  he  desired  to  arouse  or  to  calm 
the  sea.  The  artists  delineated  him  as  of  human  form  above 
but  of  animal  shape  belov.-  the  waist,  the  line  of  union  b  g 
concealed  by  a  garment.  In  the  later  centuries,  howevc  ,  nis 
lower  parts  were  shown  as  those  of  a  fish. 

A  Boiotian  tale  narrates  that  the  women  of  Tanagra,  who 
had  gone  down  to  the  sea  to  be  purified  in  preparation  for  a 
festival  of  Dionysos,  were  attacked  by  Triton  while  they  were 
in  the  water,  but  the  god  heard  their  cries  for  help  and  beat 
their  assailant  oflF.  In  another  tale,  Triton  was  charged  with 
raids  on  the  herds  and  shipping  of  Tanagra  until  at  last  the 
people  set  out  a  bowl  of  wine  as  a  trap,  whereupon,  drinking 
the  wine,  Triton  fell  asleep  on  the  shore  of  the  sea,  and  a  man 
of  the  cit>  chopped  off  his  head  with  an  axe.  That  is  why  the 
Tanagran  image  of  Triton  was  headless. 

Nereiis.  —  Nereus,  "the  Ancient  of  the  Sea,"  portrayed 
in  his  person  and  family  the  multiform  beauties  of  the  sea. 
He  was  the  issue  of  Pontos  and  Gaia,  and  by  his  wife  Doris 
he  begat  a  host  of  daughters,  the  Nereids,  the  beautiful  nymphs 
of  the  inner  sea  as  opposed  to  the  Okcanids,  the  nymphs  of 
the  outer  sea.  He  was  a  benevolent  old  man  always  ready 
to  help  those  who  were  in  trouble,  his  great  age  being  marked 
by  the  hoary  foam  of  the  breaking  waves.  Like  certain  other 
gods  of  the  sea,  he  was  an  unerring  prophet  and  gifted  with 
marvellous  powers  of  transformation,  but  in  spite  of  his  changes 
into  many  animal  forms,  he  was  forced  by  Herakles  to  point  out 
the  road  leading  to  the  golden  apples  of  the  Hesperides.  In 
his  true  form  he  was  conceived  as  an  old  man  with  a  thick  beard 
and  a  heavy  tangled  mat  of  hair.   His  emblem  was  the  trident. 

The  Nereids  seem  to  have  stood  for  the  ripples  and  waves 
of  calm  weather,  those  most  famous  in  myth  being  Amphitrite 
and  Thetis. 


PLATE    LV 

Odv-sei's  and  the  Sirevs 

Odvsseus  stands  on  tiptoe,  lashed  faceforu-ard  to 
the  mast.  In  front  of  him  is  a  Siren  perched  on  a 
branch  and  smging  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  nm- 
Panon  which  she  is  beating,  vvh.le  behind  him  is  an- 
other i„ren,  s,m,!arlv  seated,  holding  a  ^,/W  ,x.„her) 
m  her  lett  hand  and  a  pUktro,,  (pick)  in  her  r.ght. 
The  tour  companions  of  Odysseus  are  working  d.s- 
tractedly  at  their  oars  as  thev  ga.e  spellbound  at  the 
allurmg  creatures  above  them,  from  a  design,  done 
I"  wh.te  and  three  colours,  on  a  Lucanian  kraur  of 
the  third  centurv  h.c,  in  Berlm  ( Furtwangler-Re,ch- 


THE  LESSER  GODS -OF  WATER  261 

Proteus.  -  Proteus,  the  son  and  underling  of  Poseidon,  was 
so  far  the  master  god  of  elusive  "sea  change"  that  the  epithet 
J  rotean  has  become  a  synonym  of  the  sophistical  and  dis- 
s.mubfng  m.nd.    His  two  sons,   Polygonos  and  Telegonos. 
met  Herakles  at  Torone  as  the  latter  was  returning  from  the 
country  of  the  Amazons,  and  challenged  him  to  a  wrestling 
bout,  but  the  hero  threw  and  killed  them  both.   According  to 
Homer  and  Euripides,  Proteus  was  the  king  of  the  Egyptian 
-land  of  Pharos  ^  and  the  husband  of  a  Nereid  nymph     He 
was  the  herder  and  guardian  of  the  seals  and  knew  everything 
that  took  place  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  also,  like  Nereus! 
all  that  had  happened  or  was  to  come  to  pass  upon  earth. 
Through  the  connivance  of  his  daughter,  Eidothea,  he  was 
seized  by  Menelaos  and  forced  to  reveal  to  him  the  state  of 
affairs  at  Sparta  and  to  direct  him  on  his  homeward  voyage 
Claukos.~The  sea-god  Glarkos  was  said  to  have  been  at 
hrst  an  ordinary  human  being,   the  son  of  Anthedon  and 
Alkyone,  this  being  a  mythological  way  of  saying  that  he  was 
a  native  of  the  Boiotian  city  of  Anthedon.   By  trade  he  was  a 
fisherman,  and  one  day,  when  reclining  on  the  shore  after  land- 
ing his  catch,  he  obser^-ed  that  some  of  the  fish,  eating  of  a 
certain  herb,  came  back  to  life  and  leaped  into  the  sea.  After 
tasting  the  herb  himself,  he,  too,  sprang  into  the  water  at  a 
spot  which  the  Anthedonians  later  called  "Glaukos's  Leap" 
and  was  transformed  into  a  deity,  being  admitted  into  the  circle 
o    the  sea-gods  after  Okeanos  and  Tethys  had  purged  him  of 
all  human  imperfections,  and  becoming  so  skilled  in  prophecy 
that  in  this  art  he  gave  instruction  to  Apollo  and  Nereus 
The  artists  were  wont  to  sketch  him  as  a  fisherman  equipped 
with  fish-traps  and  a  fish-basket  and  as  wearing  the  skin  of  a 
fish  on  his  head.   This  story  is,  without  doubt,  essentially  re- 
Kncd  to  the  more  widely  known  legend  of  the  search  for  the 
rountain  of  Youth. 

Ino  {Leukothea).  -  We  are  already  aware  of  the  role  played 
by  Ino,  the  daughter  of  Kadmos,  in  those  events  of  the  early 


i 


k 


iGl 


GREEK   AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 


liistory  of  Thebes  which  cuhuinatcd  in  the  great  tribal  move- 
nu'tit  known  in  mythology  as  the  X'oyagc  of  the  Argonauts. 
Iler  function  as  guardian  of  the  sailor  folk,  which  she  exer- 
cised under  the  new  name  of  Leukothea,  is  exemplified  most 
clearly  in  the  Homeric  episode  where  she  comes  to  the  aid  of 
the  shipwrecked  Odysseus.  Seeing  the  hero  exhausted  by  his 
efTorts  to  save  himself,  she  rose  from  the  sea  and  sat  beside 
him  on  his  raft,  giving  him  a  magic  veil  and  bidding  him  bind 
it  about  his  breast,  cast  himself  into  the  raging  water,  and 
endeavour  to  swim  to  the  Phaiakian  coast.  Following  her 
counsel,  Odysseus  was  kept  afloat  by  the  veil  for  two  days  and 
two  nights,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  he  set  foot 
upon  land. 

Seirenes  {Sirens).  —  By  nature  the  Sirens  ("Bewitching 
Ones")  were  akin  to  the  Kercs  and  Erinyes,  being  winged  dae- 
mons of  death  who  haunted  graves  and  the  underworld.  The 
belief  in  them  was  deeply  rooted  in  the  minds  of  the  common 
people,  and  Homer  must  have  been  aware  of  their  special  at- 
tributes, although  he  seems  to  have  chosen  only  such  of  them 
as  would  serve  his  literary  purposes.  He  is  the  creator  of  their 
musical  gifts  and  is  responsible  for  their  association  with  the  sea. 

The  descent  of  the  Sirens  was  not  definitely  fixed.  They 
were  reputed  to  be  the  children  of  Phorkys,  or,  again,  they  were 
born  of  the  drops  of  blood  that  fell  upon  Earth  from  the  broken 
horn  of  Acheloos,  while  another  genealogy  accounts  them  the 
children  of  this  same  Acheloos  and  one  of  the  Muses.  In 
Homer  they  arc  two  in  number,  though  the  vase-painters  gen- 
erally represent  them  as  three;  but  in  the  sphere  of  popular 
religion  their  number  is  unlimited  by  reason  of  their  very 
nature,  and  any  names  that  attach  to  them  are  invariably  sug- 
gestive of  meretricious  wiles  and  charms.  Hesiod  locates  these 
beguiling  divinities  in  the  flowery  island  of  Anthemocssa  in  the 
western  sea. 

Kirke  thus  describes  the  Sirens  to  Odysseus:  "To  the  Sirens 
first  shalt  thou  come,  who  bewitch  all  men,  whosoever  come  to 


THE   LESSER  GODS  —  OF  WATER 


2f>3 


them.  VVhf)so  Iraws  nigh  them  unwittingly  and  hears  the 
sound  of  the  Sirens'  voice  never  U(jth  he  sec  wife  or  babes 
stand  by  him  on  his  icturn,  nor  have  they  joy  at  his  coming; 
but  the  Sirens  «nchant  him  with  their  clear  song,  sitting  in 
the  meadow,  and  all  about  is  ,i  great  heap  of  bones  of  men, 
corrupt  in  death,  and  round  the  bones  the  skin  is  wasting." 
To  the  description  Kirke  added  directions  for  defeating  their 
witchery-,  and  by  following  these  Odysseus  and  his  compan- 
ions passed  safely  by.  "But  do  thou  drive  thy  ship  past," 
she  said,  ";.  J  icnead  honey-sweet  wa.x,  and  anoint  therewith 
the  ears  of  thy  company,  lest  any  of  the  rest  hear  the  song; 
but  if  thou  thyself  art  minded  to  hear,  let  them  bind  thee  in 
the  swift  ship  hand  and  foot,  upright  in  the  mast-head,  and 
from  the  mast  let  rope-ends  be  tied  that  with  delight  thou 
may*,  t  hear  the  voice  of  the  Sirens.  And  if  thou  shalt  beseech 
thy  company  and  bid  them  to  loose  rhee,  then  let  them  bind 
thee  with  yet  more  bonds."  * 

The  Sirens  are  often  represented  in  tombstone  reliefs  and 
in  vase-paintings  as  birds  standing  or  flying,  and  with  human 
heads,  which  are  occasionally  bearded. 

Z!:ylla  and  Charybdis.  —  Among  the  most  fo-  nidable  mon- 
sters known  to  Greek  mythology  were  Skylla  and  Charybdis, 
the  former  of  whom  regularly  passed  as  the  daughter  of  Phor- 
kys  and  Krataiis  ("Mighty").  Up  to  the  a  -e  of  womanhood 
she  was  a  divinity  of  such  beauty  as  to  awaken  love  for  her 
in  the  breast  of  Poseidon,  but  when  Amphitrite  discovered  her 
husband's  waywardness,  she  jealously  threw  magic  herbs  into 
the  spring  in  which  Skylla  was  wont  to  bailie,  after  which 
her  rival  became  the  horrible  ravening  creature  against  whom 
Kirke  warned  Odysseus.  She  dwelt  in  a  dim  cave  in  the  face 
of  a  cliff  hard  by  his  course,  and  ;  .  the  vessel  passed  by,  she 
reached  out  her  six  long  and  snakeliko  necks,  with  each  head 
snatching  a  sailor  from  his  bench,  and  crushing  him  in  her 
pitiless  jaws. 

Over  against  Skylla  was  Charybdis,  a  Ic^s  repulsive  but  no 


i 


i 


2(>4       CRicr.K  AM)  ROMAN  \nTnoi.o(;v 

loss  cruel  monster,  who,  Kk.,  had  been  birn  a  goddess,  being 
the  daughter  of  Poseidon  and  Claia.  Her  chief  characteristic 
was  an  insatiable  voracity,  and,  because  of  repeated  thefts  of 
cattle  from  Herakles,  Zeus.  with  the  stroke  of  a  thunderbolt, 
hurled  her  into  the  sea.  where,  in  the  very  p>ath  of  ships,  she 
sucked  down  black  water  three  times  a  day,  and  thrice  daily 
spoilt  d  it  forili.  BcKinning  with  the  fifth  century  u.c,  Skylla 
anu  Charybdis  were  localized  in  the  Straits  of  Messina. 


OF   WINDS  AND   STORMS 

A  little  kntnvledge  of  the  meteorological  conditions  of  Greece 
and  of  the  manner  of  life  to  which  the  ancient  Greek  was 
bound  by  the  very  nature  of  things  makes  it  plain  why  Hesiod  • 
called  the  winds  "a  great  trouble  to  mortals."  One  who  is  well 
acquainted  with  modern  Greece  writes:  "In  the  winter  the 
winds  blow  from  every  point  of  the  compass  and  cannot  be 
relied  upon  from  one  day  to  the  next,"  '  while  in  strong  con- 
trast  is  the  regularity  of  direction  of  the  summer  winds.    In 
all  this  variety  of  air-currents,  sometimes  humouring,  some- 
times thwarting  the  plans  of  man,  it  was  not  at  all  strange  to 
see  the  operations  of  beings  of  independent  will  and  of  those 
motley  traits  which  go  to  make  up  personality.    It  was  in- 
evitable that  the  mountain  hurricanes,  which  without  warning 
swooped  down  on  the  sailor  or  fisherman  who  thought  himself 
safe  as  long  as  he  hugged  the  shore,  should  seem  to  be  daemons 
of  destruction;  and  it  was  equally  axiomatic  that  the  useful 
trade-winds  should  be  credited  with  peaceful  and  benevolent 
dispositions.    Owing  to  their  in;portance  the  winds  were  very 
early  given  a  place  in  cult  or  in  those  magic  ceremonies  which 
can  be  diflPerentiated  from  cult  only  with  difficulty;  and,  con- 
sequently, as   there   were   rain-charms,   so  were  there  wind- 
charms  to  avert  or  to  arouse  the  winds  as  necessity  required. 
With   the   continuous   de\elopnunt   of  chthonic   elements   in 
Greek  ritual  the  tendency  gained  momentum  to  identify  the 


THE  LESSER  GODS -OF  WINDS  265 

violent  winds  \vith  malignant  daemons  of  the  earth;  yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  many  of  them  were  thought  to  reside  in  bir.ls  of 
prey,  such  as  the  sea-hawh,  while  in  the  kingfisher  dwelt  the 
spirit  of  midwinter  caUn,  whence  wc  still  speak  of  "halcyon 
(kingfisher)  Jays." 

liorcas,  Euros,  Notos,  and  Zephyros.  -The  most  important 
wmds,  Boreas,  Euros,  Xotos,  and  Zephyros,  were  classified  in 
myth  as  the  sons  of  Astraios  and  Eos.    The  character  which 
Boreas,  tht  north  wind,  exliibits  in  Attic  mvth  holds  good  every- 
where else.   He  is  lustful,  rruel,  ar.d  strong,  and  with  a  decided 
bent  for  thavery;  he  is  a  cold,  blustering,  and  uncouth  Thra- 
cian;  he  leaps  swiftly  down  from  the  peaks  of  the  hills,  up- 
rooting the  oaks  and  shattering  the  ships  which  lie  in  his  path; 
accordmg  to  his  caprice,  he  brings  clear  sky  or  cloud.    Homer 
tells  us  that  Achilles  besought  Boreas  and  Zephyros  to  fan  the 
flames   of  Patroklos's   pyre,  and  the  Athenians  of  the  fifth 
century  attributed  to  Boreas's  connexion  with  them  by  mar- 
riage the  destruction  of  the  fleet  of  Xcnxes  off  Chalkis.   They 
habitually   thought  of  him   as  a   shaggy-haired  and   heavy- 
browed  man,  equipped  with  wings  on  both  shoulders  and  feet, 
while  at  Thourioi  he  was  regarded  as  so  nearly  human  that  he 
was  given  the  rank  of  citizen  and  was  assigned  a  domicile. 
Homer  relates,  however,  that  in  the  form  of  a  horse  he  begat 
by  the  mares  of  Erichthonlos  twelve  foals  that  could  race  over 
the  sea  without  sinking  and  over  the  tilled  lands  without  leav- 
mg  a  footmark  or  the  trail  of  a  wheel  behind  them. 

The  remaining  winds  are  devoid  of  the  sharp  individuality 
of  Boreas.  From  the  southland  comes  Notos  in  autumn  and 
wmter,  his  beard  heavy  with  clouds,  and  his  grey  poll  dripping 
great  drops  of  moisture,  while  from  his  wings  a  leaden  mist 
falls  over  glen  and  hill,  and  men  and  beasts  and  herbage  be- 
come sluggish  and  sickly.  Over  the  sea  he  spreads  a  dense  mist 
so  that  sailors  despair  of  making  port,  and,  in  Horatian  phrase, 
he  IS  the  wind  "than  whom  there  is  no  greater  ruler  of  the 
Adriatic."  ^    Along  with  Euros  he  hindered  Odysseus's  depart- 


k-m 


266         GREEK   AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLOGY 

lire  from  Thrinakia  and  drove  him  back  upon  Charybdis.  In 
the  south-east  is  the  home  of  Euros,  at  whose  warm  breath  the 
snows  melt  and  rains  fall.  Zephyros  is  the  gentle  wind  of  the 
west  which  gives  strength  to  plants,  and  in  a  very  childish 
allegory  myth  makes  him  the  husband  of  Chloris  ("X'crdant 
Herbage"),  by  whom  he  became  the  father  of  Karpo  ("Fruit- 
fulness"). 

Jiolos.  —  In  the  Odyssey  Aiolos,  the  steward  of  the  winds, 
inhabits  the  floating  island  of  .Aiolia  in  the  western  sea  along 
with  his  family  of  si.\  convivial  sons  and  si.x  convivial  daugh- 
ters. The  story  of  how  he  packed  the  winds  in  a  bag  and  gave 
them  to  Odysseus  we  need  not  repeat  here.  The  person  of 
Aiolos  seems  to  represent  the  mobility  and  variability  of  the 
winds,  and  his  children,  living  as  they  did  "  in  Saiis  unci  Braus," 
their  rapacity;  while  his  method  of  controlling  them  is  paral- 
leled in  a  primitive  Germanic  custom  of  bagging  the  winds  in 
order  to  quell  them. 

Harpies.  —  The  hated  and  destructive  squalls  that  burst 
suddenly  from  the  mountain  valleys  on  the  coastal  shipping 
were  well  described  in  the  appearance  and  the  actions  of 
the  Harpies  (^' Apirvtai,  "Snatchers"),  whom  popular  epithet 
styled  "the  dogs  of  Zeus,"  and  with  good  reason,  as  their 
treatment  of  Phineus  has  already  demonstrated.  These  loath- 
some creatures  had  the  arms  and  breasts  of  a  woman,  but  all 
their  remaining  pans  were  those  of  a  bird.  The  talons  of  their 
hands  and  feet  were  long  and  sharp,  and  with  their  wings  they 
flew  about  with  the  speed  of  the  wind,  their  names,  Aellopous 
( " Storm-Foot ")  and  Okypete  ( "  Swift-Flying"), being  accurate 
registers  of  their  nature.  To  account  for  such  marvellous 
beings  mythology  derived  them  from  some  monstrous  sire  like 
Thaumas,  or  Typlion,  or  Poseidon;  and,  since  like  begets  like, 
they  in  their  turn  became  the  mothers  of  the  swift  steeds  of 
Achilles,  Erechtheus,  and  tiie  Dioskouroi.  Their  home  was  in 
the  Strfiphades,  a  group  of  islands  in  the  .Aegean,  or,  accord- 
ing to  \ergil,  at  the  very  gates  of  the  underworld. 


'^n 


ft 


HLATE    LVI 

Oreithvia  AM)   Boreas 
Boreas,    well    characterized    as    a    thick-set    .nH 
-t  .haired  .an  of  crue,  countenance    ht      as 
)re..hy.a  around  the  waist,  and,  lifting  her  off  he 

:;;;  ^v'^ ''°'";  ^'"-^'"^  ^-^-^  -''»'-  through 

he  a,r.     A  s.ster  of  the  n,aiden,  Pandrosos,  is  hasten- 
ng  away   ,n   fear,  while   Herse,  another  s  ster,  runs 


'll 


:?■' 


•p11 


m 


THE  LESSER  GODS  — OF  THE  WILD        267 

Typhon  and  the  ATy^/o/)^/.  —  Apparently  Typhon  and  all 
tiic  forms  of  the  Kyklopes  —  the  Homeric,  the  smiths  of  Zeus, 
the  spirits  of  the  volcano,  and  the  mythical  builders  of  city 
walls  —  were  originally  storm-daemons.» 


OF  THE  WILD 

Pan,  Silenoi,  and  Satyroi  (Satyrs).  —  Pan  has  about  him  the 
unmistakable  marks  of  a  native  of  the  hills  and  the  grazing 
lands  of  Arkadia,  his  name  (a  contraction  of  ITaW)  denoting 
"the  grazier."  It  was  in  the  Arkadian  mountain,  Lykaion, 
where  he  was  born  a  son  of  Hermes  and  Dryope,  or  of  Zeus  and 
Kallisto,  and  only  among  the  pastoral  Arkadians  was  his  cult 
of  national  importance.  On  his  favour  to  flock  and  herd  hung 
the  existence  and  the  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants,  and  with 
the  spread  of  the  story  that  in  the  battle  at  Marathon  he  rein- 
forced the  Greek  cause  by  driving  the  Persians  into  a  mad  rout, 
his  cult  extended  into  every  part  of  Greece.  Nevertheless,  with 
the  exception  of  his  exaltation  in  certain  philosophical  circles 
to  the  position  of  the  All-God  (a  conception  born  partly  from 
the  false  derivation  of  his  name  from  the  adjective  meaning 
"all"),  he  had  no  contact  with  the  spiritual  life  of  the  people 
—  he  always  remained,  as  he  is  portrayed  in  the  Homeric 
Hymn  in  his  honour,  the  unconventional,  if  not  wanton,  divin- 
ity of  the  wilderness  and  country-side. 

As  the  "goat-footed,  two-horned  lover  of  the  dance"  he 
haunts  "the  snowy  height,  the  mountain  peaks,  and  paths 
amid  the  crags.  Hither  and  thither  he  fares  through  the  thick 
copses,  now  enticed  by  the  gentle  streams,  and  now,  climbing 
an  exceeding  lofty  height  overlooking  the  herds,  he  makes  his 
way  among  the  rocks.  Often  he  nms  over  tb.c  long  white  ridges 
of  the  mountains,  and  often,  again,  over  the  foot-hills,  slaying 
wild  beasts  and  glancing  sharply  about  him.  Then  at  evening, 
returning  from  the  chase,  he  sings  alone  and  plays  a  sweet  song 
upon  the  pipes.   Not  even  the  bird  which  pours  forth  her  sweet 


268 


GREEK  AND  ROMAX  MYTHOLOGY 


lays  amid  the  leaves  of  flowery  spring  can  excel  him  in  song 

of  tlK  lughlands  throngmg  round  the  darkling  fountain,  and 
echo  resounds  about  the  summit  of  the  mountain."  "> 

At  the  outset  Pan  was  simply  a  generative  daemon  of  the 
flocks  and  herds,  but  the  concept  of  in's  being  a  sort  of  ideal 
shc-pherd  and  protector  was  a  natural  sequel  of  this  function 
and  m  t,me  h,s  powers  were  so  enlarged  that  he  was  held  to 
exert  an  >nfluence  on  the  growth  of  forage  plants,  although  he 
never  became  a  full-fledged  deity  of  vegetation.    In  the  fore- 
K-ing  spheres  h,s  emblem  was  the  phallos.    So  far  as  wind  and 
ueatlur  affected  the  condition  of  the  cattle,  Pan  was  a  weather- 
^od   and  doubtless  his  fabled  skill  on  the  pipes  is  a  reminiscence 
of  tl.e  pnnut.ve  magical  practice  of  endeavouring  to  control 
the  w.nds  by  wh.stling  or  by  playing  on  wind-instruments. 
As  the  ciucf  dume  inhabitant  of  the  solitudes  Pan  contrived 
the   special   perils   that   beset   hunters,   herdsmen,   travellers 
and  otlKTs  who  invaded  his  domains.    The  mirage  was  a  de- 
vice created  by  him  to  mislead  and  perplex,  and  panic,  named 
after  h.mself,  was  his  coup  de  maltre  for  suddenly  dispersing 
great  hosts.  '         k        '6 

The  Satyrs  and  the  Silenoi  can  best  be  comprehended, 
perhaps  m  the  statement  that  they  are  a  plurality  of  Pans 
although  ,n  them  this  playful  and  lustful  character  stands  ou[ 
m  exaggerated  relief.  They  combine  the  elements  of  human 
brut,-,  and  inanimate  nature  more  successfully  than  any  other 
creatures  of  myth.  By  virtue  of  their  connexion  with  fertility 
t hey  frequently  appear  in  the  circle  of  Dionysos  as  well  as  in 
that  ot  ran. 

The  representations  of  Pan  and  his  lesser  congeners  in 
art  are,  in  more  than  the  ordinary  sense,  myths  in  pictorial  or 
graphic  orm.  Two  periods  of  their  development  may  be  ob- 
served, the  dividing  line  being  drawn,  roughly,  at  about  400 
B.C.  In  the  first  the  human  element  predominates,  all  of  the 
divinities  being  regularly  shown  as  possessing  the  heads  and 


THE  LESSER  GODS  -  OF  THE  WILD        269 

bodies  of  men  and  the  members  of  animals,  such  as  horns,  tail 
pomted  ears,  shaggy  hair,  and  the  legs  of  goats  or  of  horses.' 
Toward  the  end  of  this  time  types  appear  which  represent 
them  as  beautiful  youths,  bearing  here  and  there  upon  their 
persons  mere  hints  of  their  semi-bestial  nature.  In  the  second 
period  the  animal  element  becomes  more  prominent,  but  more 
.smoothly  fused  with  the  human,  and  the  types  of  Pan,  the 
.Satyrs,  and  the  Silenoi  now  begin  to  diverge  along  their  own 


Fig.  10.    Satyrs  at  Play 


(y//S  xi   Plat^  xAr  "''''"  "  pantomimic  dance  of  maidens 

separate  lines.  Pan  is  now  practically  always  seen  with  goat's 
legs  and  has  a  leering,  sensual  countenance,  while  the  flute 
of  reed,  the  goatherd's  staff,  and  the  goatskin  are  his  common 
attributes.  All  these  characteristics  are  gradually  taken  over 
by  the  Satyrs. 

Maniads  and  Bacchantes. -The  Maenads  and  Bacchantes 
were  the  spirits  of  the  wild  conceived  as  feminine.  Although 
they  were  much  less  gross  than  their  male  companions  whom 
we  have  just  described,  in  that  they  were  devoid  of  the  bodily 
attributes  of  the  animal  kinds,  nevertheless,  thev  counted  the 
beasts  of  the  wild  among  their  chief  associates,  and,  despite 
their   human  form,  they  were  distinctly  unhuman   in  spirit. 


270         GREEK  AND  ROMAX   XnTHOLOGY 
They  had  their  birth  in  the  belief,  common  to  many  primitive 
rcop  OS,  that  the  storms  of  the  latter  part  of  the  winter  release 
the  daemons  uh.ch  put  life  into  herb  and  tree;  in  fact,  they 
were  these  storms  themselves,  wanton,  wild,  and  free.    Their 
natures  brought  then,  into  an  intimate  alliance  with  Dionysos 
and  the  role  wh.ch  they  played  in  his  rites  has  made  the'; 
names  svnonyms  of  unrestraint  and  revelry.     Wrought  to  a 
state  of  ecstasy  by  the  shrill  music  of  the  flute  and  the  clash 
of  cymbals,  they  would  shout  and  sing  as  they  ran  wildly  to 
and  fro,  wavmg  burning  brands  and   thyrsoi  (ritual  wands). 
As  Agave  tore  her  unbelieving  son  Pentheus  asunder,  so  the 
Maenads  were  sa.d  to  rend  the  young  of  wild  animals  and  then 
to  eat  their  flesh  raw. 

tofnTK-/"''  "^'^-'^ryads.-Th.  spirits  which  were  thought 
to  nhabu  trees  were  known  as  Dryads  or  Hamadryads,  and 
the>  became  classed  as  nymphs,  as  we  have  previously  pointed 

Dr vad'th   7"^  r'  "''""°"  °^  ^"'"^-    ^"^-  ^he  name  of 
Dr>  ad  the  Greeks  seem  to  have  comprehended  a  female  spirit 
duel hng  among  the  trees,  whereas  a  Hamadryad,  on  the  other 
hand   was  the  sp.nt  of  an  individual  tree  whose  life  began  and 
ended  w,th  that  of  her  host.   Stories  which  bring  out  the  indi- 
v.duahty  of  Hamadryads  -  for  example,  that  of  Daphne  and 
Apolo       are  s,mply  the  devices  of  mythology  to  explain  the 
marked  pecuhanfes  of  smgle  trees  or  of  single  species  of  trees. 
Kcntaurot  ^Cmtaurs).  -  Of  all  the  monsters  put  together  by 
he  Greek  .mag.nat.on   the  Centaurs  constituted  a  class   in 
themselves     Despite  a   strong  streak  of  sensuality  in   their 
make-up,  the.r  normal   behaviour  was  moral,  and  they  t.x>k 
a  kindly  thought  of  man's  welfare.   The  attempted  outrage  of 
Nessos  on  Deianeira,  and  that  of  the  whole  tribe  of  Centaurs 
on  the  Lapith  women,  are  more  than  offset  bv  the  hospitality 
of  Pholos  and  by  the  wisdom  of  Cheiron,  physician,  prophet, 
I>nst,  and  the  instructor  of  Achilles.    Further,  the  Centaurs 
were  peculiar  ,n  that  their  nature,  which  united  the  b.Klv  of 
a  horse  wuh  the  trunk  and  head  of  a  man,  involved  an  unth'ink- 


THE  LESSER  GODS  — OF  THE  WILD        271 

i-blc  duplication  of  vital  organs  and  important  members.  So 
grotesque  a  combination  seems  almost  un-Greek.  These  strange 
creatures  were  said  to  live  in  the  caves  and  clefts  of  the  moun- 
tains, myth  associating  them  especially  with  the  hills  of  Thes- 
saly  and  the  range  of  Erymanthos. 


k 


£•9 


III 


I 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  LESSER  GODS   -  OF  THE   EARTH 

I.   GAIA   (GE) 

F  a  roci  of  this  utilitarian  day  and  generation  can  sine 
with  such  happy  fancy,  ' 

"The  earth  that  is  the  sister  of  the  <:ea, 
The  earth  that  is  the  daughter  of  the  stars, 
1  he  mother  of  the  myriad  race  of  men,"  ' 

why  should  we  wonder  at  the  Greeks'  imputation  of  person- 
ality to  the  various  features  of  the  material  world?  This  mod- 
ern conception  of  Earth,  i.  e.  Gaia  or  Ge,  is  almost  textualiv, 
we  may  safely  say,  that  of  the  most  ancient  Greeks  of  whom 
we  have  even  the  vaguest  knowledge.    At  Dodona  Zeus,  the 
sky-god,   was  coupled  with  the  earth  goddess,  a  union  long 
consummated  even  then.   In  Homer's  time  she  was  held  to  be  a 
sentient  being,  although  perhaps  not  quite  personal  enough  to 
be  a  goddess,  but  later,  in  Hesiod,  we  find  her  consciously 
exercising  the  functions  of  parenthood.    As  we  have  seen  in 
the  chapter  on  the  beginning  of  things,  she  was  the  mother, 
first  of  Ouranos,  and  afterward,  by  him,  of  the  Titans,  of  the 
Kyklopes    and  of  the  Giants,  and,  by  the  indirect  process  of 
descent,  of  gods  and  men;  while  in  the  local  myths  we  learned 
that  men  like  Pelasgos,  K.krops,  and  Alalkomeneus  sprang 
straight   from  her  bosom.     When  she  had  brought  all  these 
into  the  world,  she  nourished  them,  enriched  them,  and  gave 
them  the  mysterious  power  to  reproduce  their  kind,  whence 
at  Athens  she  was  venerated  under  the  title  "Xourisher  of 


*1 
■  f» 

y- 

MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TIST    CHART 

ANSI  end  ISO  tESI  CHARt  No    ? 


1.0 


I.I 


jll^      III  2.5 

ilia  1^ 

^•-     12.0 


1.8 


1-25    III  1.4    i  1.6 


^     APPLIED  IKUE>E     Inc 


PLATE    LVII 

A  Maenad 

This  vigorously  drawn  tigure  represents  a  Maenad 
at  the  height  of  her  orgiastic  frenzy.  Her  slightly 
raised  foot  and  the  flutter  of  her  garments  show  that 
she  is  dancing  wildly  rather  than  moving  swiftly  for- 
ward. She  wears  a  girdle  of  fawn-skin,  and  is  crowned 
with  a  wreath  of  ivy  from  beneath  which  flow  long 
loose  tresses  of  her  hair.  Behind  her  and  to  one  side 
her  thyrsos  (ritual  wand)  stands  obliquely  in  the  ground. 
In  each  hand  she  holds  a  part  of  the  fawn  which  in  her 
madness  she  has  just  rent  asunder,  as  the  blood  still 
dripping  from  the  wounds  testifies.  From  a  red- 
figured  lekythos  of  about  475  B.C.,  from  Gela  {Monu- 
mtuti  Antichi,  xvii,  Plate  LV  a).     See  pp.  269-70. 


THE  LESSER  GODS  —  RHEA-KYBELE        273 

Under  the  name  of  Gaia,  however,  the  development  of  the 
goddess  stopped,  for  Gaia  was  too  obvious  a  suggestion  of  the 
material  earth  to  stir  the  constructive  Greek  fancy  into  ac- 
tion, although  certain  of  her  epithets  descriptive  of  different 
concepts  of  the  earth-power  survived  and  took  on  attractive 
forms.  Thus,  as  Pandora  ("All-Giver")  she  became  the  theme 
of  a  significant  myth,  and  as  Pandrosos  ("All-Bedewing") 
she  plays  a  role  in  early  Athenian  religious  history,  while, 
partly  from  the  righteousness  of  her  oracles,  as  delivered,  for 
instance,  from  her  pre-Apolline  shrine  at  Delphoi,  she  became 
Themis  ("Justice"),  although  it  was  under  the  name  of 
Dcmeter  that  she  attained  her  highest  and  loveliest  attributes 
of  divinity. 

Yet  there  is  another  side  to  the  nature  of  Gaia,  for  after 
death  men  were  laid  away  in  her  deep  bosom,  whence  they  had 
first  come,  so  that  she  presided  over  the  host  of  departed  spirits, 
and  it  was  only  natural  that,  under  the  name  of  Persephone, 
she  ultimately  came  to  be  known  as  the  queen  of  the  lower 
world.  She  was  associated  with  the  Genesia,  a  festival  in  which 
ancestors  were  honoured,  and  with  the  latter  part  of  the  An- 
thesteria,  while  in  public  oaths  that  bound  treaties  and  alli- 
ances she  was  invoked,  along  with  Zeus  and  Helios,  as  an  ever- 
present  witness  of  the  solemn  obligation. 

II.   RHEA-KYBELE  (GREAT  MOTHER) 

Beginning  with  the  fifth  century,  the  names  Great  Mother 
or  Mother  of  the  Gods,  Rhea,  and  Kybele  were  employed 
indifferently  to  designate  a  single  divine  being,  a  great  earth 
goddess,  and  it  is  altogether  probable  that  historically  also 
they  represented  only  one  being.  At  Athens  her  official  title 
was  the  first  of  the  foregoing  names,  or  its  alternative  form, 
and  there,  as  early  as  the  sixth  century,  she  was  accorded  a 
shrine,  known  as  the  Metroon,  which  served  as  the  depository 
of  the  state  archives,  an  honour  which  seems  to  have  come  to 


I    it' 


H 


i 

4 


•11 


274         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

her  through  her  Hkcness  to  Dcmctcr,  who  had  already  been 
naturalized.  The  name  Rhea  belonged  rather  to  the  circle  of 
myth,  being  seldom  used  as  a  formal  religious  designation, 
while  the  mention  of  Kybele  always  called  to  mind  the  peculiar 
manner  of  cult  connected  with  the  Asiatic  form  of  the  mother 
goddess  of  earth. 

Rhea  was  primarily  the  Cretan  conception  of  the  maternal 
principle  resident  in  the  earth,  and  as  with  the  other  gods  her 
functions  increased  with  her  recognition,  until  many  were  in- 
cluded which  in  reality  had  only  a  remote  relation  to  her  actual 
nature.  In  some  quarters  her  name  is  explained  as  being  pos- 
sibly a  Cretan  form  of  7e'a  (7^),  "earth,"  while  in  others  it 
is  connected  with  pdv,  "to  flow,"  a  relation  which  seems  to 
put  emphasis  on  her  function  as  a  producer  of  rain.  In  the 
Orphic  genealogy  Rhea  is  the  daughter  of  Okeanos  and  Tethys, 
but  in  the  Hesiodic  the  offspring  of  Ouranos  and  Gaia.  Be- 
coming the  sister-wife  of  Kronos,  she  bears  Hera,  Zeus,  Posei- 
don, Hades,  Demeter,  and  Hestia,  and  in  this  way  she  plays  a 
very  important  part  in  the  early  scenes  of  the  world's  history 
as  set  forth  in  myth.  The  story  of  her  giving  birth  to  Zeus  in 
Crete  is  a  mirror  of  her  functions  and  cult,  Zeus  representing 
the  herbage  of  spring  emerging  from  the  fertile  bosom  of  mother 
earth,  and  the  nymphs  attending  him  being  the  countless 
kindly  spirits  which  cherish  the  tender  plants  of  earth.  The 
Kouretes,  who  later  become  an  organized  priesthood,  are  none 
other  than  the  early  Cretans  engaged  in  the  performance  of 
magical  ceremonies  designed  to  encourage  the  productivity  of 
earth,  while  the  stone  which  Rhea  gives  Kronos  to  swallow 
must  surely  be  a  rain-stone  to  bring  rain  upon  earth.  Finally, 
the  death  of  Zeus  as  reported  in  Crete  is,  in  the  language  of 
myth,  the  annual  decline  of  vegetation,  the  fall  of  leaf  and 
flower  upon  the  breast  of  earth. 

In  the  fifth  century  the  name  and  worship  of  Kybele  were 
introduced  into  Greece  and  spread  abroad,  largely  through  the 
influence  of  freed  Phrygian  slaves.   The  personality  of  this  god- 


THE  LESSER  GODS  —  RHEA-KYBELE        275 

dcss  included,  without  doubt,  traits  of  many  other  local  earth 
goddesses  whom  she  had  assimilated  from  time  to  time,  and, 
as  one  may  clearly  observe  in  the  legend  which  we  are  about  to 
relate,  she  and  her  youthful  favourite,  Attis,  arc  parallel  cult- 
figures  to  Aphrodite  and  Adonis. 

An  almond-tree  wedded  to  the  Phrygian  river  Sangarios 
became  the  mother  of  a  handsome  lad  named  Attis,  who  spent 
his  childhood  in  the  wilds  among  the  beasts  and  birds,  and 
became  a  herdsman  when  he  grew  to  manhood.  His  beauty 
attracted  the  attention  both  of  Kybele  and  of  the  princess  of 
the  realm,  so  that  they  became  rivals  for  his  love,  but  when  his 
marriage  with  the  princess  was  about  to  be  celebrated  in  the 
presence  of  a  large  gathering,  Kybele  suddenly  appeared  and 
smote  the  guests  with  madness.  Attis,  fleeing  to  the  highlands, 
killed  himself,  and  though  Kybele  entreated  Zeus  to  restore  the 
boy  to  life,  all  that  she  could  obtain  was  the  consent  that 
his  body  and  hair  were  to  remain  as  in  life,  and  that  he  could 
move  his  little  finger. 

The  legend  just  narrated  seems  to  be  an  attempt  to  follow 
back  to  its  sources  the  ritual  in  which  the  yearly  death  and  re- 
birth of  the  young  god  of  wild  vegetation  were  symbolized  by 
a  fir-tree.  But  Kybele  was  also  associated  with  the  vegetation 
of  the  tilled  lands,  this  being  suggested,  first,  by  the  legends 
which  make  her  the  wife  of  Gordias,  the  first  king  of  Phrygia, 
and  by  him  the  mother  of  Midas,  whom  she  generously  blesses 
with  the  wealth  of  the  earth;  and,  secondly,  by  the  myths  where 
the  daughter  whom  she  has  borne  to  the  river  Sangarios  is 
joined  in  wedlock  to  Dionysos.  The  dependence  of  Phrygia 
upon  her  bounty  for  its  well-being  made  her  the  chief  divinity 
both  of  the  separate  cities  and  of  the  entire  country. 

Kybele  was  attended  by  the  lion  and  other  wild  animals  and 
by  bands  of  priests  known  as  Korybantes  and  Daktyloi. 
The  former  might  be  characterized  as  male  Maenads,  so  wild 
and  abandoned  were  their  rites,  and,  in  fact,  they  surpassed 
the  Maenads  in  this  respect,  even  going  so  far  as  to  practice 


'4 


^i  at 


H 


'  ¥' 


rill 


=76         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

mutilation  of  their  bodies.  The  aim  of  their  ritual  was  twofold 
—  to  advance  the  growth  of  vegetation,  and  to  free  themselves 
from  eternal  death  by  mystic  union  with  the  immortal  god- 
dess. Owing  to  the  highly  emotional  and  unreflectivc  character 
of  this  cult,  it  was  never  thoroughly  acceptable  to  the  Greek 
temperament. 

During  the  fifth  and  fourth  centuries  art  did  not  succeed  in 
elaborating  a  strictly  Greek  type  of  Rhea-Kybele,  who  was 
often  portrayed  in  a  manner  which  suggested  the  Artemis  of 
the  wild  beasts  —  a  matronly  figure  seated,  crowned,  and  ac- 
companied by  lions.  Her  later  type  was  an  amplification  of  the 
earlier,  although  barbarian  traits  now  predominated. 


III.    LESSER   DIVINITIES  OF  THE  UNDERWORLD 

Erinyes  (Latin  Furiae).  —  After  the  murder  of  Abel,  we  are 
told  in  Genesis,"  God  said  to  Cain:  "The  voice  of  thy  brother's 
blood  crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground,"  and  from  the  same 
idea  of  the  appeal  of  murdered  souls  for  vengeance  the  Erinyes 
were  born.  The  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  differed,  however,  in 
the  extent  to  which  they  severally  elaborated  the  idea,  since 
the  former  put  the  avenging  power  into  the  hands  of  God,  and 
the  latter  into  the  hands  of  the  injured  souls  themselves.  The 
soul  of  the  murdered  man,  according  to  Greek  belief,  could  rise 
from  the  ground  and  as  a  free  agent  hound  the  murderer  night 
and  day  until  he  made  proper  expiation  for  his  crime,  this  aveng- 
ing soul  being  an  Erinys.  In  time,  through  the  influence  of 
a  common  tendency  to  pluralize  daemonic  conceptions,  it  was 
expanded  into  a  number  of  beings  of  a  like  nature;  and  as  these 
became  established  in  popular  thought,  they  acquired  an 
ever-enlarging  endowment  of  attributes,  the  most  important 
being  those  which  .ney  acquired  from  the  earth  out  of  which 
they  came.  As  Earth  was  generally  conceived  as  feminine, 
so  were  they,  and  at  times  men  even  entreated  them,  as  they 
would  Earth,  for  the  blessing  of  a  good  harvest.    Strange  to 


!  I 


THE  LESSER  GODS  —  UNDERWORLD        277 

say,  the  Erinyes  did  not  pursue  every  murderer;  their  vindic- 
tive fury  was  reserved  especially  for  him  who  had  committed 
tlie  sin  of  sins,  the  slaughter  of  a  kinsman,  and  herein  lies  the 
significance  of  their  pursuit  of  Orestes  and  Alkmaion  —  each 
had  slain  his  mother.  Once  established  as  defenders  of  the 
family,  to  the  Greek  mind  the  mainstay  of  the  social  order, 
their  powers  to  enforce  justice  were  broadened,  and  they  now 
became  the  champions  of  the  right  of  the  first-born,  and  of 
strangers,  and  of  beggars.  In  Homer  we  find  them  depriving 
Achilles'  horses  of  the  gift  of  speech  in  order  to  correct  an 
offence  against  the  just  laws  of  nature.  They  are  generally, 
but  not  always,  represented  as  being  three  in  number  and 
named  respectively  Alekto,  Megaira,  Tisiphone.  In  imagina- 
tion men  painted  them  as  repulsive  caricatures  of  women; 
f<  hair  they  had  a  tangle  of  serpents;  instead  of  running,  they 
flew  about  like  birds  of  prey;  in  their  hands  they  brandished 
scourges  with  which  they  threatened  the  victim  of  their  pur- 
suit; and  the  Taurian  herdsmen  reported  to  Iphigenia  Orestes' 
description  of  the  Erinys  who  assailed  him: 

"A  she-dragon  of  Hell,  and  all  her  head 
Agape  with  fanged  asps,  to  bite  me  dead. 
She  hath  no  face,  but  somewhere  from  her  cloak 
Bloweth  a  wind  of  fire  and  bloody  smoke: 
The  wind's  heat  fans  it:  in  her  arms.  Ah  see! 
My  mother,  dead  giey  stone,  to  cast  on  me 
And  crush." ' 

Eumenides,  Semnai  Theai,  Maniai.  —  Small  wonder  that 
the  Greeks  shrank  from  pronouncing  the  name  of  such  dire 
beings  as  the  Erinyes.  Since  a  name  has  a  happy  way  of  cloak- 
ing realities,  they  called  them  in  Athens  Semnai  Theai,  "Re- 
vered Goddesses,"  and  at  Kolonos,  the  Eumenides,  "Benevo- 
lent Ones,"  but  in  time  they  forgot  that  these  epithets  were 
only  substitutes  and  built  up  new  divine  characters  to  suit 
them,  such  being  the  pliability  of  the  myth-making  mind. 
The  Maniai  ("Madnesses")  of  Megalopolis  seem  to  have 
been  of  identical  nature. 


m 
11 

I 

^ 


£1 


278         GREEK  AND   ROMAN   MYTHOLfX^Y 

Mucfllanrnus.  -  Besides  the  Erinyes,  there  was  a  host  of 
inferior  hehlih  creatures  popularly  located  in  the  underworld. 
The  Kercs  passed  now  as  the  souls  of  the  dead,  now  as  malevo- 
lent death-dealinp  daemons  of  an  independent  origin  and  exist- 
ence; the  Stringes  ("\-ampires")  were  horrid  winged  creatures 
in  the  form  of  night-birds  who  brought  evil  dreams  and  sucked 
the  life-bUK>d  of  sleepers;  and  Empousa  was  a  destructive 
monster  with  one  foot  of  brass  and  the  other  of  an  ass.  Lamia, 
who  still  lives  in  modern  Creek  superstition,  was  said  to  have 
been  a  woman  of  Libya  whose  children,  begotten  by  Zeus, 
were  slain  by  Hera,  and  who  in  revenge  gave  herself  over  to 
the  perpetual  task  of  killing  strange  children. 

In  the  underworld  there  also  lived  Hypnos  (" Sleep ^^) 
and  Thanatos  ("Death"),  twin  sons  of  Nyx  ("Night") 
and  Erebos  ("Darkness").  Hypnos  spent  his  time  now  on 
earth,  now  in  the  Island  of  Dreams,  and  now  beneath  the 
earth,  exercising  his  power  over  men  and  gods  as  he  willed; 
while  Thanatos  would  come  forth  from  below  and  clip  a  lock 
from  the  head  of  the  dying  to  hasten  the  last  breath. 


■if 

1- 


PLATF.    LVIII 


Hypnos 

Hypno«,  a  Ipsutiful,  »or:-flcshcd,  dreamy  youth, 
seems  originally  to  have  held  in  his  extended  right 
hand  a  horn  from  which  to  pour  ileep  on  reposing 
mortals;  m  his  left  he  probably  grasped  a  poppy-stem 
with  which  he  cast  over  them  a  spell  of  forgetfulness. 
His  appearance  calli  to  mind  the  description  of  Sleep 
which  Ovid  puts  into  the  mouth  of  luno:  "Sleep, 
mildest  of  all  the  gods,  thou  art  thyself  sweet  peace  of 
mind,  a  soothing  balm,  an  alien  to  care,  and  bringest 
rest  and  strength  to  mortals  worn  and  weary  with 
the  toils  of  life"  (.l/etamotf hoses,  xi.  623-25),  A 
Roman  marble  copy  of  a  bronze  original  (apparently 
of  the  fourth  century  b.c),  in  the  Prado,  Madrid 
(Brunn-Bruckmann,  DinimiiUr  gritchischir  und  rim- 
ischer  Sculptur,  No.  529).      Sec  p.  278. 


m 


it 
III 


II 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  LESSER  GODS  -  ASKLEPIOS, 
ABSTRACT  DIVINITIES 

I.   ASKLEPIOS 

ALTHOUGH,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  Asklepios  was  not, 
strictly  speaking,  an  abstract  divinity,  yet  the  more 
or  less  abstract  character  of  his  function  of  healing  affords  some 
warrant  for  our  present  classification  of  him. 

The  Origin  and  the  Name  of  Asklepios.  —  If  the  myths  con- 
cerning the  parentage  of  Asklepios  are  at  all  significant,  he 
was  the  heir  and  successor  of  Apollo  in  the  art  of  healing. 
This  mythical  relationship  doubtless  became  established  in 
some  cult-shrine  of  Apollo,  such  as  that  in  Epidauros  or  even 
that  in  Cretan  Gortyna,  where  the  two  were  affiliated  and 
where,  in  the  end,  the  younger  divinity  ousted  the  elder  from 
the  first  place.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  initial  nature  of 
Asklepios,  his  mature  form  seems  to  reveal  a  combination  of 
two  natures,  chthonic  and  solar,  and  of  this  there  are  traces 
in  the  myths  that  are  to  follow.  Some  scholars  see  in  the  first 
part  of  his  name  a  root  which  embodies  the  idea  of  brightness, 
but,  unfortunately,  this  is  so  uncertain  that  it  is  useless  as  a 
confirmation  of  the  partly  solar  nature  of  the  god.  It  is  pretty 
generally  agreed,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  second  part  of 
the  name, -7,7rto9,  signifies  "mild"  or  "soothing,"  a  very  ap- 
propriate quality  for  a  dispenser  of  healing. 

Myths  of  Asklepios.  —  Asklepios  sometimes  passed  as  the 
son  of  Arsinoe,  the  daughter  of  Lcukippos,  but  generally  as 
the  son  of  Koronis  ("Sea-GuU"),  the  daughter  of  Thessalian 
Phlegyas.   Pausanias »  tells  the  story  of  his  birth  and  infancy 


s  I) 


:8o 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


with  an  attractive  simplicity.    "When  he  [i.  e.  Phlcgyas]  came 
to   Peloponncse   his  daughter  came   with    him,   and   she,  all 
unknown  to  her  father,  was  with  child  by  Apollo.   In  the  land 
of  Epidauros  she  was  delivered  of  a  m.ale  child,  whom  she  ex- 
posed upon  the  mountain  which  is  named  Titthion  ('nipple')- 
.   But  one  of  the  goats  that  browsed  on  the  mountain 
gave  suck  to  the  forsaken  babe;   and  a  dog,  the  guardian  of 
the  flock,  watched  over  it.   Now  when  Aresthanas  —  for  that 
was  the  name  of  the  goatherd  —  perceived  that  the  tale  of  the 
goats  was  not  full,  and  that  the  dog  kept  away  from  the  flock, 
he  went   up  and   down,   they  say,   looking  everywhere.    At 
last  he  found  the  babe  and  was  fain  to  take  it  up  in  his  arms. 
But  as  he  drew  near  he  saw  a  bright  light  shining  from  the 
child.   So  he  turned  away,  'For  surely,'  thought  he,  'the  hand 
of  God  is  in  this,'  as  indeed  it  was.   And  soon  the  fame  of  the 
child  went  abroad  over  every  land  and  sea,  how  that  he  had 
all  power  to  heal  the  sick  and  that  he  raised  the  dead."   An- 
other account  relates  that   while  Asklepios  was   still   in  the 
womb  of  his  mother,  a  raven  came  to  Apollo  with  the  tidings 
that  Koronis  was  unfaithful  to  him,  whereupon  Apollo  straight- 
way cursed  the  raven,  which,  in  consequence,  was  changed 
forever  from  white  to  black,  and,  hastening  to  Koronis,  he 
slew  her  and  burned  her  body  on  a  pyre.    Snatching  the  child 
from  the  midst  of  the  flames,  he  took  him  to  Cheiron,  who 
trained   him  in  the  chase   and   in  the  mysteries  of  healing, 
whereby  Asklepios  became  so  skilful  as  a  physician  that  he 
not  only  kept  many  men  from  death,  but  even  raised  to  life 
some    who    had    died,   for    instance,    Kapaneus,  Hippolytos, 
Tyndareos,  Glaukos  the  son  of  Minos,  and  others.   Zeus,  how- 
ever, fearful  lest  men,  too,  might  learn  how  to  revive  the  dead, 
slew  Asklepios  with  the  thunderbolt,  whereupon,  in  reprisal, 
Apollo  killed  the  Kyklopes  and  for  this  act  had  to  make  ex- 
piation by  serving  Admetos  as  a  slave.   The  legend  also  tries 
to  explain  the  healing  means  employed  by  Asklepios,  saying 
that,  through  Athene,  he  secured  blood  from  the  veins  of 


THE  LESSER  GODS  —  ASKLEPIOS 


281 


Medousa.  With  that  which  came  from  her  left  side  he  destroyed 
men,  while  with  that  which  was  derived  from  the  right  he 
brought  them  back  to  life. 

The  people  of  Epidauros  said  that  Asklepios  was  first  known 
as  Epios,  but  after  he  had  healed  King  Askles  of  a  grievous 
malady,  he  assumed  the  longer  and  traditional  name.  In 
Epidauros  his  wife  was  Epione,  but  elsewhere  she  was  Lam- 
petie,  a  daughter  of  Helios.  Machaon,  the  hero-physician,  was 
always  held  to  be  a  son  of  Asklepios  and  sometimes  Epione 
and  Hygieia  ("Health")  were  said  to  be  his  daughters. 

The  serpent  is  the  constant  symbol  of  Asklepios  in  both 
legend  and  worship,  the  burghers  of  a  certain  Epidauros  in 
Lakonia  claiming  that  their  shrine  of  the  god  was  built  on  a 
spot  where  a  snake  had  disappeared  beneath  the  earth.  In 
his  sacred  precincts  in  the  Argive  Epidauros,  and  in  those  of 
Athens  and  Kos,  which  were  offshoots  of  the  former,  the  ser- 
pent was  the  living  emblem  of  his  presence  and  was  thought 
to  communicate  means  of  healing  to  sufferers  from  disease 
as  they  slept  in  the  holy  place  —  the  rite  technically  known  as 
"incubation."  »  Asklepios  was  invariably  attended  by  groups 
of  priests  who  devoted  themselves  to  surgery  and  other  cura- 
tive means,  and  many  extant  inscriptions  tetl  of  their  wonderful 
successes.  In  the  island  of  Kos  in  particular  the  priests  of  As- 
klepios laid  the  foundations  of  the  modern  scientific  study  and 
practice  of  medicine. 

Asklepios  in  Art.  —  Owing  to  the  failure  of  poetry  to  at- 
tribute any  definite  traits  of  face  and  form  to  Asklepios,  the 
artists  were  thrown  back  upon  their  own  ingenuity.  They  chose 
to  represent  him  after  the  ideal  of  Zeus,  but  of  milder  counte- 
nance and  of  less  majestic  manner.  He  is  shown  seated  or 
standing  like  the  corresponding  types  of  Zeus,  though  holding 
the  sceptre  not  as  a  mark  of  might  but  as  a  staff  on  which  to 
lean.  The  best  representations  of  him  are  seen  in  the  votive 
offerings  of  his  shrine  where  incubation  (sleep-cure)  was  prac- 
tised. 


*^  »' 


' '  i'  y\ 


282         GREEK  AND  ROxMAN  iXnTHOLOGY 


II.   ABSTRACT  DIVINITIES 

The  same  habit  of  thought  which  could  clothe  the  mysterious 
operations  of  nature  with  all  the  features  of  personality  could 
consistently  treat  in  like  manner  the  inscrutable  processes  of 
the  mind  and  the  qualities  of  things,  wh'^nce  we  actually  find 
the  Greeks  making  these  abstract  concept  f.  .s  over  into  divine 
beings.  That  this  was  not  merely  a  late  but  a  very  early  prac- 
tice is  demonstrated  in  the  evident  antiquity  of  Mnemosyne, 
Eunomia,  and  certain  others  of  their  kind  in  Hesiod.  This 
entire  class  of  divinities  was  treated  in  myth,  when  they  were 
given  any  place  at  all,  in  the  same  way  as  were  the  more  highly 
personalized  nature-gods,  although  they  were  debarred  from 
frequent  appearance  in  this  field,  for  temperamentally  the 
Greek  shrank  from  the  bald  literalness  of  their  names,  and  some 
of  the  divinities  recorded  below  are  by  nature  perilously  near  the 
concrete.  The  list  is  of  necessity  far  from  complete  and  must 
be  regarded  as  supplying  little  more  than  mere  illustrations. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  some  of  the  names  have  been  discussed 
in  earlier  chapters,  but  here  we  see  them  from  another  angle. 

Of  time:  Eos,  Hemera,  Nyx,  Chronos  ("Time";  cf.  "Father 
Time"),  Hebe,  Geras  ("Old  Age"),  Kairos  ("Opportunity," 
"Psychological  Moment"). 

Of  states  of  body:  Hygieia,  Hypnos,  Thanatos,  Limos  ("Fam- 
ine"), Laimos  ("Pestilence"),  Mania  ("Madness"). 

Of  states  of  mind:  Phobos,  Eleos  ("Pity"),  Aidos  ("Mod- 
esty"), Eros,  Himeros  ("Longing"),  Euphrosyne. 

Of  the  spiritual  faculties:  Metis,  Mnemosyne,  Pronoia  ("Fore- 
thought"). 

Of  the  virtues  and  vices:  Arete  ("Excellence"  or  "Virtue"), 
Sophrosyne  ("Temperance"),  Dikaiosyne  ("Righteousness"), 
Hybris  ("Offensive  Presumption"),  Anaideia  ("Shameless- 
ness"). 

Of  sundry  social  institutions:  Telete  ("Rite  of  the  Myster- 
ies"), Litai  ("Prayers"),  Arai  ("Curses"),  Nomos  ("Law"), 


THE  LESSER  GODS  —  CHANCl-: 


283 


Dike("Precedent"),Demos  ("the  People"),  Eirene  ("Peace"), 
Homonoia  ("Unanimity"). 

To  the  foregoing  catalogue  we  may  add  the  personifications 
of  the  various  phases  of  war  and  strife  (e.  g.  Nike,  "Victory") 
and  of  the  several  types  of  poetry. 

III.  THE  ELEMENT  OF  CHANCE 

Owing  to  the  importance  of  the  element  of  chance  in  legend 
and  religious  thought,  it  is  well  to  treat  this  abstraction  by 

itself. 

T-yc^^.  _ Tyche  ("Chance")  was  frankly  the  deification  of 
the  element  of  risk,  and  its  relation  to  the  plans  and  efforts 
of  men  to  earn  their  daily  bread  and  to  better  their  conditions 
of  life  held  it  continually  before  the  attention,  so  that  men 
had  to  admit  its  existence  as  a  real  force.  In  the  early  days, 
when  the  Greeks  had  the  self-reliant  spirit  of  pioneers  and  a 
strong  faith  in  the  ability  of  men  to  bring  to  pass  things  which 
were  not  positively  forbidden,  Tyche  received  only  meagre 
recognition,  but  in  the  later  days  of  their  religious  degeneracy 
and  enfeebled  initiative  they  gratuitously  endowed  her  with  a 
power  in  contrast  with  which  their  own  dignity  as  free  agents 
entirely  disappeared.  Still  more  uncertain  than  the  future  of 
individuals  is  that  of  associations  of  individuals,  and  thus,  from 
the  sixth  century  onward,  Tyche  was  exalted  with  gradually 
increasing  frequency  to  the  position  of  the  goddess  of  the  luck 
of  the  state,  this  development  being  doubtless  aided  in  the 
Roman  period  by  the  influence  of  Fortuna. 

Moira,  Moirai,  Jnanke,  Jdrasuia. —Moira  (or  Aisa, 
"Fate")  and  the  Moirai  ("Fates")  represented  the  order  of 
chance,  or,  in  other  words,  the  determinative  elements  which 
seem  to  operate  amid  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life.  Ethically, 
they  imply  a  much  healthier  point  of  view  than  that  implied 
in  Tyche.  In  Homer,  it  will  be  remembered,  Moira  was  an 
almost  impersonal  decree  issuing  from  Zeus;  that  is,  she  was 


1 

(if 


11 


.1' 

</ 
/I 


n 


284         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

herself  the  will  of  Zeus,  although  the  other  gods  limited  her 
scope  of  action  according  to  their  respective  degrees  of  great- 
ness. Somewhat  later  than  Homer  she  was  conceived  as  an 
independent  power  to  which  gods  as  well  as  men  must  yield, 
and  in  this  aspect  she  is  Ananke  ("  Necessity  "),  or  Adrasteia 
("Inevitable"). 

In  legend  the  Moirai,  who  were  reckoned  as  three  in  number, 
were,  appropriately,  the  daughters  of  Zeus  and  Themis  '  and 
bore  the  names  Klotho,  Lachesis,  and  Atropos.  Plato  may  be 
following  an  old  tradition  when  he  states  that  into  the  ears  of 
man  Klotho  sings  of  the  present,  Lachesis  of  the  past,  and 
Atropos  of  the  future;  and  a  late  belief  ascribed  to  them  sever- 
ally, in  the  order  in  which  they  have  just  been  named,  control 
over  the  birth,  the  life,  and  the  death  of  mortals. 

Nemesis.  —  The  name  of  Nemesis*  seems  to  have  been  first 
employed  as  an  epithet  of  Artemis,  intended  to  convey  the 
idea  that  this  goddess,  as  one  who  presided  over  birth,  was  also 
a  dispenser  of  human  lots.  By  the  times  of  Homer  and  Hesiod, 
however,  it  had  lost  its  character  as  a  purely  descriptive  term 
and  had  become  the  name  of  a  vague  personality;  while  later 
it  came  to  stand  for  the  divinity  who  brought  upon  men  ret- 
ribution for  their  deeds  and  who  was  especially  hostile  to  ex- 
cessive human  prosperity.  "Pride  breaks  itself,  and  too  much 
gained  is  gone."  ^  We  read  in  a  fragment  of  the  Kypria  that 
Nemesis  was  a  winged  goddess  who  flew  over  land  and  sea 
and  assumed  the  forms  of  many  animals  in  order  to  escape  the 
embraces  of  Zeus,  but  in  the  form  of  a  swan  he  overtook  her 
at  Rhamnous  and  by  her  became  the  mother  of  Helen. 


PLATE    LIX 

Nike 

A  winged  Nike  ("Victory"),  clad  in  chiton  and 
himationy  and  wearing  a  tongued  diadem,  pours  out 
wine  from  an  oinocho'e^  held  in  her  right  hand,  into  a 
saucer  resting  in  the  hand  of  an  armed  Greek  warrior. 
The  ieryieion,  or  caduaus,  in  the  left  hand  of  the 
goddess  signifies  that  she  is  bringing  a  message  of  vic- 
tory. From  a  red-figured  Attic  itiythcs  of  the  early 
fifth  century  b.c,  found  zi  Gela  {Monumtnti  Jntichi, 
xvii,  Plate  XIII).     See  p.  283. 


.     1»l 
i    T 

1;  ill 


M 


1   *      «| 


I 


PART  III 
THE    MYTHOLOGY   OF   ANCIENT   ITALY 


|i 


,S! 


Pi 


THE   MYTHOLOGY   OF    ANCIENT   ITALY 


H 


INTRODUCTION 

FOR  the  very  good  reason  that  thf  Ita'ic  mind  and  religious 
attitude  were  quite  unlike  the  Greek,  it  is  impossible  to 
treat  the  mythology  of  the  Italic  peoples  as  we  have  considered 
that  of  the  Greeks.  Now,  the  mind  of  the  Italian  was  not  natu- 
rally curious  and  speculative,  whence,  since  speculation  is  the 
motive  power  behind  myth,  the  output  of  Italic  myth  was  very 
small,  and  at  the  same  time  well-nigh  barren  of  lively  fancy. 
Furthermore,  the  Italian  had  not  advanced  to  a  stage  of  re- 
ligious thought  which  would  of  itself  favour  the  creation  of 
a  group  of  divine  personalities  specially  adapted  even  for  such 
imaginary  genealogies  and  stories  of  marvellous  achievement 
as  his  type  of  mind  might  be  able  to  construct  under  certain 
circumstances.  What,  then,  was  the  nature  of  his  religion.' 
We  shall  endeavour  to  compact  a  description  of  it  into  a  para- 
graph or  two. 

Up  to  a  point  about  midway  between  the  animistic  grade  of 
religious  thought  and  tne  stage  of  belief  in  personal  divinities 
the  Greek  and  the  Roman  seem  to  have  developed  in  virtually 
the  same  way.  Beyond  this  point,  however,  the  lines  of  their 
progress  diverged,  for  while  the  Greek  mind  easily  and  natu- 
rally emerged  from  animism  into  deism,  as  the  moth  from  the 
chrysalis,  the  Roman  found  the  utmost  difficulty;  and,  indeed, 
so  awkward  was  the  metamorphosis  that  th'^  great  majority  of 
the  deities  which  it  produced  were  and  remained  stunted  and 
deformed  as  compared  with  the  Greek  divinities.  In  brief,  the 
Roman  seldom  got  farther  than  to  regard  the  potency,  or  life- 
power,  as  a  living  will,  a  numcn,  as  he  termed  it.  Only  the  barest 
few  of  the  numina  did  he  endue  with  the  many-coloured  coat  of 


288         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

personality;  all  others  he  left  in  the  plain  rustic  garb  of  func- 
tional spiiits  of  nature  The  assignment  of  names  to  the  fa- 
voured few  and  the  establishment  of  their  worships  and  priest- 
hoods in  definite  localities  added  to  the  illusion  of  their  per- 
sonality in  the  popular  mind.  Although  from  the  point  of  view 
of  our  classification  the  numina  were  scarcely  gods,  yet  for  the 
practical  purposes  of  Roman  private  and  public  religion  they 
were  as  much  deities  as  were,  for  instance,  the  nobler  figures  of 
luppitcr,  luno,  and  Minerva. 

By  reason  of  the  power  of  the  gods  to  help  or  to  harm  it  was 
to  the  best  interest  of  the  Roman  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 
them;  in  his  own  words,  to  secure  and  maintain  a  pax  deoriim; 
and,  accordingly,  every  act  of  his  worship  was  directed  to  this 
end.    By  rites,  largely  magical  in  character,  by  sacrifice,  and 
by  supplication  he  strove  daily  to  ensure  for  himself,  his  family, 
his  fields  and  flocks,  and  his  state  the  favour  of  the  benevo- 
lent divinities,  and  to  avert  the  displeasure  of  the  evil;  but  the 
fixed  system  of  ritual  which  he  evolved  in  a  very  early  period 
so  mechanized  his  religious  thinking  that  he  became  incapable 
of  imagining  his  gods  as  departing  from  the  traditional  con- 
ception of  them,  and  hence  was  equally  unable  to  invent  myths. 
In  the  dearth  of  Roman  myth  the  Latin  writers  from  Livius 
Andronicus  onward   were   forced   to  draw   for   their   literary 
material  on  the  abundant  store  of  Greek  poetry,  and  with  the 
poetry  naturally  went  the  Creek  gods  and  the  Greek  mythology, 
although,  in  order  to  make  the  character  of  these  beings  in- 
telligible t.>  Roman   readers,  the  authors  had   to  equate  or 
identify  them  with   those  of  the  accepted  gods  of  the  land 
whom  they  resembled  most  closely.    In  some  instances  they 
made  use  of  identifications  ready  made  in  the  popular  belief, 
whence  it  came  about  that,  for  instance,  Zeus  was  always  repre- 
sented by  luppitcr,  Hera  by  luno,  Artemis  by  Diana,  and 
Dcmeter  by  Ceres.    Practically  all  the  myths  of  pan-Hellenic 
currency  became  common  Roman  property;  only  the  narrowly 
local  ones  were  untouched.    Assuming  this,  we  can  read  the 


NATIVE   ITALIC  GODS 


289 


Greek  myths  of  our  preceding  pages  as  Roman,  if  only  we  take 
the  pains  to  change  the  names  of  the  gods  to  those  of  their 
Roman  equivalents.' 


? 


|H 


I.   ETRUSCAN  MYTHOLOGY 

Unhappily  we  are  unable  to  distinguish  with  exactness  the 
Etruscan  contribution  to  Roman  religion,  although  Roman 
writers  definitely  labelled  a  few  myths  as  fiom  this  source. 
According  to  an  Etruscan  cosmogony,  the  creator  appointed 
twelve  millenniums  for  the  acts  of  creation  and  assigned  to  them 
severally  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac.  In  the  first  millennium 
he  created  heaven  and  earth;  in  the  second  the  firmament;  in 
the  third  the  land,  sea,  and  lesser  waters;  in  the  fourth  the 
sun,  moon,  and  stars;  in  the  fifth  the  creatures  of  air,  earth, 
and  water;  and  in  the  sixth  man,  whose  race  was  to  endure 
for  the  remaining  six  millenniums  and  then  perish.  A  myth 
attributed  the  origin  of  the  Etruscan  religious  system  to  a 
child  named  Tages,  who  took  human  form  from  a  clod  thrown 
up  by  a  plough  and  in  song  delivered  his  holy  message  to  a 
wondering  throng.  The  nympn  Begoe  was  said  to  have  re- 
vealed the  so-called  sacred  law  of  limitation  to  Arruns  Vel- 
tymnius,  while  Mantus  is  recorded  as  the  name  of  the  Etruscan 
god  of  the  underworld,  and  Volta  as  the  appellation  of  a 
mythical  monster. 


^  ■ 


ft 


II.   NATIVE  ITALIC  GODS 

(a)  Nature-Gods:  Of  the  Sky,  Atmosphere,  and  Time 

luppiter.  —  luppitcr  (lovis,  Diovis,  Dius,  Diespiter),  the 
chief  god  of  all  the  Italic  stocks,  was  a  personification  of  the 
sky  and  its  phenomena,  being,  therefore,  rightly  identified 
with  Zeus.  His  control  over  the  weather  and  light  made  him 
of  necessity  the  all-important  divinity  of  a  nation  of  shepherds 
and  husbandmen,  and  his  might  was  manifested  in  the  thun- 


290         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

der,  lightning,  and  rain;  in  fact,  legend  reported  him  as  coming 
to  earth  in  bodily  form  with  the  thunderbolt.  This  is  the 
origin  of  his  epithets  Fulgur  ("Lightning"),  Fulmen  ("Thun- 
derb.  It"),  and,  doubtless,  also  of  Feretrius,  while  as  the  rain- 
god  he  bears  the  names  Pluvius,  Pluvialis,  and  Elicius.  From 
his  lofty  seat  in  the  heavens  he  could  behold  all  that  hap- 
pened upon  earth;  hence,  as  Terminus,  he  became  the  guar- 
dian of  boundaries  between  properties,  and,  as  Dius  Fidius, 
the  witness  of  men's  fidelity  to  their  oaths.  Only  a  few  of  the 
Roman  gods  became  thus  moralized. 

Mater  Matiita.  —  Mater  Matuta  was  the  deity  who,  in 
the  words  of  Lucretius,-  "at  a  certain  hour  brings  down  the 
dawn  through  the  tracts  of  air  and  diffuses  the  light  of  day"; 
but  she  was  also  a  divinity  of  birth,  and  in  these  two  capacities 
was  likened  by  the  Greeks  to  their  Leuk  thea  and  Eileithyia 
respectively.  As  the  former  she  became  a  goddess  of  the  sea 
and  of  sailors,  while  Melikertcs,  or  Palaimon,  the  son  of  Leu- 
kothca,  was  likened  to  the  Roman  Portunus  ("Protector  of 
Harbours"). 

The  gods  of  the  seasons  were  few.  The  explanations  sug- 
gested by  the  anci  nts  to  account  for  the  significance  of  tiie 
goddess  Angerona  are  childish,  and  she  seems  really  to  have 
been,  like  Anna  Perenna,  a  divinity  of  the  winter  solstice. 
As  protector  of  plants  through  all  their  stages  from  blooming 
to  fruit-bearing  Vertumnus  was  perhaps  aboriginally  a  god  of 
the  changing  year.  Ovid  relates  that,  in  the  days  of  King  Proca, 
Vertumnus  fell  in  love  with  Pomona,  a  shy  nymph  who  with- 
drew from  the  society  of  men  to  the  retirement  and  duties  of 
her  orchard  and  garden,  and  although  in  many  disguises  he 
sought  to  make  his  way  into  her  retreat,  it  was  all  in  vain, 
until  he  presented  himself  in  the  form  of  an  old  woman.  He 
then  told  her  of  his  passion,  but  all  his  words  could  not  avail 
to  soften  her  heart.  Only  when  he  showed  himself  to  her  in 
his  true  likeness,  as  a  youth  of  unblemished  beauty,  did  she 
relent;  and  from  that  time  on  they  were  never  seen  apart. 


'f 


PLATE    LX 

Genius  and  Lares 

In  the  centre  stands  the  Genius,  presumably  of  the 
head  of  the  household,  in  human  form,  while  below  he 
appears  in  the  guise  of  a  serpent  approaching  an  altar 
to  devour  the  offerings  placed  thereon.  In  his  right 
hand  the  Geni:  .  holds  a  sacrificial  saucer  and  in  his 
left  a  box  of  inc-nse,  and  on  either  side  of  him  dance 
two  Lares,  each  holding  a  rhyton  (drinking-horn)  and 
a  small  bronze  pail.  From  a  wall-painting  in  the 
House  of  the  Vettii,  Pompeii  (Hermann-Bruckmann, 
Denkmaler  dfr  MaUrei  des  Altertums^  No.  48).  See 
pp.  291,  298-99. 


MS 


,» 


NATIVE  li^ALIC  GODS 


291 


(b)   Nature-Gods:  Of  Human  Life,  Earth,  Agriculture, 
and  Herding 

Genius;  luno.  —  If  we  adopt  the  Roman  point  of  view,  and 
regard  the  Genius  of  man  and  the  luno  of  woman  as  functional 
powers  originating  outside  of  human  life  and  employing  men 
and  women  merely  as  fields  of  operation,  we  must  place  these 
two  divinities  among  the  nature-gods.  Fundamentally  Genius 
was  the  procreati  /e  power  of  each  man  and  luno  that  of  each 
woman,  whence,  finally,  through  a  logical  expansion  the  names 
came  to  stand  severally  for  the  two  sexes  and  their  respective 
life-interests.  The  ramifications  of  man's  activities  arrested 
the  development  of  Genius  as  an  individual  numen,  while  the 
restricted  sameness  of  woman's  life  intensified  the  individuality 
of  luno.  In  Genius,  however,  was  latent  the  germ  of  the  man- 
worship  of  the  Empire.  luno  presided  over  the  conception  of 
children  and  their  development  up  to  birth,  while  her  Samnite 
epithet,  Populona,  marked  her  as  the  divinity  who  augmented 
the  population.  Her  union  with  luppiter  and  her  identification 
with  Hera  were  late  and  greatly  altered  her  personality. 

Ceres.  —  Ceres  and  her  male  counterpart,  Cerus  (who  was 
snuffed  out  early),  were  among  the  oldest  of  the  Italic  gods. 
Ceres  was  closely  associated  with  Tellus.  The  purpose  of  all 
her  festivals  was  to  elicit  her  blessing  on  the  crops  in  all  their 
stages  from  seeding  until  har\-est,  and  the  fact  that  the  staple 
grain  foods  were  her  gift  to  the  people  gave  her  a  peculiarly 
plebeian  standing.  Myth  represented  her  as  very  susceptible 
to  offence  and  as  prompt  to  punish  the  offender. 

Tellus  Mater.  —  TcUus,  or  Tellus  Mater,  seems  to  have  be- 
longed to  the  same  ancient  stratum  as  Ceres  and  to  have  been 
primevally  ?.  .filiated  with  her.  As  her  name  implies,  she  was 
really  Mother  Earth,  but  in  agriculture  she  was  a  personifica- 
tion of  the  field  which  receives  and  cherishes  the  seed.  In  time, 
however,  she  had  to  yield  place  to  Ceres,  as  a  double  of  the 
Greek  Demeter,  only  to  reappear  later  under  the  name  Terra 
1  —  23 


'      I 


U 


292  GREEK  AND  ROMAX   MYTHOLOGY 

Mater.  In  certain  rites  she  was  held  to  be  a  divinity  of  the 
underworld,  for  when  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  entrusted, 
like  the  seed-grain,  to  her  care,  she  was  simply  taking  back 
what  she  herself  had  given.    In  myth,  she  stood,  of  course,  for 

Gaia  (Cjc). 

7^,7,,.^.  _  Liber  first  arose  as  an  epithet  of  luppiter  to  desig- 
nate the  amplitude  of  his  productive  powers  in  the  fertiliza- 
tion of  the  seed  of  plants  and  animals,  but  later  the  adjective 
became  detached  and  invested  with  personality,  the  resulting 
divinity  being  then  identified  as  Dionysos  and  appointed  as  the 
protector  of  the  vine.    Liber's  female  counterpart.  Libera,  was 
equated  with  Kore  and  was  thus  drawn  into  the  circle  of  Ceres. 
Saturnus. —  Vrom  the  ancient  prominence  of  Saturnus  ("the 
Sower";   cf.  scn-rr),  or,  in  English,   Saturn,  Italy  was  often 
known  in  myth  as  Saturnia.    The  native  function  of  Saturnus 
is  transparent  in  his  name,  but  this  was  gradually  broadened 
so  as  to   include   practically  all   agricultural   operations,  his 
great  December  festival,  the  Saturnalia,  having  for  its  object 
the  germination  of  the  seed  just  sown,  while  the  sickle,  as  his 
chief   symbol,    marked    his   intimate    relation   to   harvesting. 
For  some  reason  unknown  to  us  he  was  given  a  high  place 
in  Italic  myth,  where  he  was  the  husband  of  Ops.     Through 
his  association  with  her  he  assimilated  some  of  her  chthonic 
traits,  and,  further,  thrc  ..h  her  identification  as  Rhea,  was  in 
his  turn  identified  with  K.ouos,  thus  coming  to  be  exalted  as 
the  ruler  of  the  Golden  Ag-:-. 

Consus  and  Ops.— The  special  province  of  Census  (cf. 
condfre,  "to  store"),  a  purely  Italic  god,  was  the  safe  garner- 
ing of  the  fruits  of  the  field,  and  the  underground  location  of 
his  altar  at  Rome  is  a  sort  of  myth  without  words,  symbolizing 
as  it  did  the  common  custom  of  storing  the  grain  in  pits.  His 
most  intimate  companion  in  cult  was  Ops,  who  seems  prima- 
rily to  have  been  the  personal  embodiment  of  a  bountiful  har- 
vest, though  she  assumed  the  secondary  function  of  protecting 
the  private  and  public  granaries  against  destruction  by  fire. 


NATIVE   ITALIC  GODS 


293 


Mars. — The  god  Mars  (Mavors,  Marspitcr,  Maspitir) 
was  known  to  all  the  primitive  stocks.  In  his  later  career  he 
was  certainly  the  god  of  war,  and  in  the  Roman  versions  of 
(Ireek  legends  his  name  regularly  replaced  that  of  Ares,  but 
that  war  was  his  roU-  from  the  beginning  is  not  generally  ad- 
mitted, for  he  may  have  been  a  god  of  vegetation  and  f)f  the 
borderlands  lying  between  the  farmstead  and  tlie  wild,  and  have 
possessed  the  double  function  of  fostering  the  crops  and  herds 
and  of  defending  them  against  the  attacks  of  enemies  from 
without.  Just  as  the  (Jreeks  associated  the  horse  and  the  bull 
with  Poseidon,  so  the  Italians  variously  connected  the  wood- 
pecker, the  o.\,  and  the  wolf  with  Mars. 

Faiinus.  —  No  Roman  god  incorporated  in  his  single  per- 
son more  features  of  terrestrial  nature  than  did  Faunus 
(cf.  favcre,  "to  favour").  Tliere  is  nc  doubt  that  he  had 
been  established  in  the  life  of  the  people  of  the  fold  and  the 
hamlet  from  a  very  remote  age,  and  so  familiar  were  they 
with  him  that  they  could  take  some  of  those  liberties  with  his 
personality  such  as  mythology  allows.  He  was,  their  legends 
ran,  the  kindly  spirit  of  out-of-doors  who  caused  crop  and 
herd  to  flourish  and  who  warded  oiT  wolves,  being  Lupercus 
in  this  latter  aspect.  It  was  he  who  was  the  speaker  of  the 
weird  prophetic  voices  which  men  heard  in  the  forest,  and 
late  legend  said  that  he  cast  his  prophecies  in  the  form 
of  verse,  and  thus  became  the  inventor  of  poetry.  Yet 
there  was  a  mischievous  side  to  his  nature  as  well  as  a  seri- 
ous, for  he  was  the  spirit  who  sent  the  Nightmare  (Incubo). 
Fauna,  a  divinity  of  fertility,  passed  now  as  his  wife,  now  as 
his  sister. 

Silvanus.  —  Silvanus  seems  to  have  sprung  into  being  from 
the  detached  and  divinized  epithet  of  either  Mars  or  Faunus, 
and  his  domain,  true  to  his  name,  was  the  woodland.  He 
best  "ved  his  favour  on  hunter  and  shepherd  and  on  all  the 
interests  of  the  husbandman  who  had  won  a  title  to  his  acres 
through    clearing   away    the    wild    timber.     He   was    himself 


.94         CREEK  AND  ROMAN  M\THOLOGY 

mythologically  conceived  as  a  hunter  or  as  an  ideal  gardener, 
and  many  stories  of  Pan  were  transferred  to  him. 

Diana  -The  earliest  of  the  Italic  divinities  to  be  adopted 
In-  Rome  was  Diana,  and  her  cult  on  the  Aventine  H.ll  was 
simply  a  transference  of  her  cult  at  Aricia  of  Latium.  The 
common  belief  of  a  later  period  that  she  was  the  same  as 
\rtemis  obscured  her  original  nature,  but  her  afBl.ation  at 
Aricia  with  the  spring-nymph  Egeria,  and  with  \  irb.us,  both 
divinities  of  child-birth,  arouses  the  suspicion  that  her  function 

was  a  similar  one.  _ 

^',„„j._The  process  which  converted  the  native  Italian 
Venus  into  a  goddess  of  love  and  the  Roman  double  of  Aph- 
rodite is  very  interesting.   Her  personality  seems  to  have  been 
an  efflorescence  of  her  name,  which  first  denoted  the  element  of 
attractiveness  in  general,  then,  as  it  narrowed,  this  quality 
in  nature,  and,  in  the  end,  the  goddess  who  elaborated  it.   To 
the  utilitarian  Roman  the  chief  field  of  her  activity  was  the 
market-gardens  on  which  the  city  depended  for  a  large  pro- 
portion of  its  food-stuffs,  and  it  was  in  this  capacity,  no  doubt, 
that  she  was  recognized  as  the  same  as  Aphrodite.   With  this 
identification   she   t(x>k  over   Aphrodite's   attribute  of    love 
but  in  so  doing  arrested  her  own  development  along  its  origina 
lines      \t  an  earlv  date  in  Rome  she  was  accorded  special 
homage  as  the  mother  of  Aeneas,  and,  later,  as  the  divine  an- 
cestress of  the  Julian  family,  the  temple  of  X'enus  Genetn.x 
built  by  Julius  Caesar  and  that  of  \'enus  and  Rome  con- 
structed  bv  Hadrian  being   material   evidences  of  her  high 
standing.    Cupido  became  her  companion  in  myth  as  Eros 
was  that  of  Aphrodite.  _ 

fl^.a.  —  Flora  was  an  ancient  goddess  of  springtime  and 
flowers,  giving  beauty  and  fragrance  to  the  blossom,  sweet- 
ness to  honev,  aroma  to  wine,  and  charm  to  youth.  Her 
April  festival  was  marked  by  the  unstinted  and  varied  use  of 
flowers,  and  by  the  practice  of  pursuing  animals  often  ntually 
associated  with  fertility. 


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PLATE    LXI 
I 

Arethui;>a 

Thi"  head  of  Arethousa  may  he  distinguished  from 
that  of  Persephone  (see  Plate  IV,  Fig.  4)  in  that  it 
lacks  the  diadem  of  stalks  and  ears  of  grain.  The 
dolphins  indicate  that  the  nymph  dwells  by  the  sea. 
From  a  ilecadrachm  of  Syracuse  of  the  fourth  century 
B.C.  (enlarged  two  diameters).     See  p.  257. 

2 

Ia.nus  Bifrons 

This  coin  type  delineates  the  Roman  conception  of 
the  two-faced  god  of  entrances.  Each  face  is  that  of 
an  old  man  with  Sushy  hair  and  beard,  and  is  in  keep- 
ing with  the  idea  recorded  in  Ovid  that  lanus  was  the 
oldest  of  the  gods.  From  a  Roman  bronze  coin  of 
the  fourth  centurv  B.C.  ((J.  F.  Hill,  Historical  Roman 
Cii'ii,  Plate  I,  Fig.  I).      See  p.  2(^7. 


NATIVE   ITALIC  GODS 


29S 


Fortuna.  —  If  we  follow  the  successive  stages  of  Fortuna's 
growth,  we  must  rank  her  as  a  nature-god.  As  far  back  as  we 
can  probe  into  her  history,  she  was  apparently  the  deification 
of  that  incalculable  element  which  shapes  the  conditions  of 
harvest,  a  time  of  great  anxiety  to  an  agricultural  people,  while 
her  votaries  at  Praeneste  believed  that  she  controlled  the  des- 
tiny of  women  in  child-birth.  She  w^o,  in  brief,  a  sort  of  in- 
dependent predetermining  force  in  nature.  As  Vergil  repre- 
sented her,  however,  she  was  the  incorporate  will  of  the  gods, 
and  submission  to  her  decisions  was  always  a  moral  victory. 
Her  Greek  counterpart  was  generally  Tyche,  rarely  Moira. 


(c)  Nature-Gods:  Of  the  Water 

The  importance  of  springs  ar.d  streams  in  the  life  of  the 
Italian  sufficiently  accounts  for  his  belief  in  their  individual 
nuniina.  The  numina  o<"  the  springs  appeared  as  kindly  young 
goddesses  gifted  with  song  and  prophecy  and  with  the  power 
of  healing,  but  they  were  also,  after  a  manner,  sorceresses, 
though  they  used  their  magic  to  good  ends.  The  best  known 
of  these  at  Rome  was  luturna  who,  the  legends  said,  was  the 
wife  of  lanus  and  the  mother  of  Fons  ("Fountain").  The 
Camenae,  nymphs  of  song  and  of  child-birth,  were  known  as  the 
Roman  muses,  one  of  their  number,  Carmentis  (or  Carmenta), 
like  a  Greek  Fate,  singing  to  the  new-born  child  its  destiny. 
Egeria,  the  nymph  brought  in  from  Aricia,  had  gifts  like  those 
of  the  Camenae.  The  Romans  imagined  the  numina  of  rivers 
to  be  benevolent  and  indulgent  old  men. 

Neptunus.  —  Neptunus,  as  the  divinity  of  the  element  of 
moisture,  bolong<'d  to  the  oldest  circle  of  the  Roman  gods, 
and  only  through  his  likeness  to  Poseidon  did  he  become  the 
lord  of  the  sea.  His  nature  confined  the  observance  of  his 
worship  to  the  rural  population,  and  the  persistence  of  his 
festival,  the  Neptunalia,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  bring 
moisture  to  the  land,  into  the  fourth  century  of  our  era  is  one 


296         GREEK  i\ND  ROMAN   NnTHOLOGY 

evidence  of  tlie  tenacious  power  of  nature-religion  over  the 
masses  of  the  Roman  people. 

(d)   Nature-Gods:  Of  fire,  of  the  Underworld,  and  of  disease 

f'<'!canus. — Tlie  fire-god  \olcanus  was  far  less  conspicuous 
than  one  would  have  expected  him  to  be  in  the  land  of  \'esu- 
vius,  and  doubtless  because  the  volcano  had  been  quiescent 
for  many  centuries  prior  to  79  a.d.  Although  the  god  wore 
the  mask  of  Ilephaistos  in  the  Latin  renderings  of  Greek 
myth,  he  was  by  nature  only  partially  qualified  to  do  so.  In 
the  old  Roman  group  of  gods  he  was  the  spirit  of  destructive 
rather  than  of  useful  fire,  and  was  reputed  to  be  of  an  irascible 
disposition  which  always  needed  placation,  whence  the  pres- 
ence of  many  docks  and  valuable  stores  at  Ostia  led  to  the 
wide  extension  of  his  worship  in  that  place. 

r,dioi-is.  —  Left  to  himself,  and  with  his  imagination  un- 
prodded  by  the  Greek  spirit  of  wonder,  the  Roman  gave  little 
time  to  speculating  on  the  lot  of  man  after  death.  His  chief 
interest  was  in  the  living  and  those  yet  to  be  born,  so  that  one 
is  not  surprised  to  find  his  divinities  of  the  underworld  few 
and  only  vaguely  outlined.  The  chief  one  was  \ediovis  (\  ei- 
ovis,  \'edius),  who  seems  to  have  been  given  his  place  in  the 
lower  world  largely  for  the  reason  that  the  logic  of  the  Roman 
religious  system  called  for  a  spiritual  and  physical  opposite 
tt.  luppiter.  Little  is  known  of  him  beyond  the  fact  that  he 
was  invoked  in  oaths  along  with  Tellus. 

ffl^ris.  —  The  disease  which  the  Romans  feared  the  most 
was,  of  course,  malaria,  which  was  the  fever  (febris)  par  ex- 
cellence; and  so  concrete  and  uniform  were  its  manifestations 
that  we  utterly  lose  the  Roman's  point  of  view  if  we  regard 
Febris,  the  divinity,  as  born  of  an  abstraction.  This  holds 
equally  true  of  the  oflFshoots  of  Febris,  Dea  Tertiana  and  Dea 
Quartana,  the  one  standing  for  the  malarial  chills  which, 
according  to  our  mode  of  reckoning,  return  every  second  day, 
the  other  for  those  which  recur  every  third  day. 


NATIVE   ITALIC  GODS 


(e)  Gods  of  Human  Socifty 

I  anus.  —  So  obscure  was  the  origin  of  lanus  that  the 
Roman  poets  took  all  manner  of  liberties  with  him,  using  the 
joint  appearance  of  his  head  and  of  a  ship  on  coins  as  data  for 
a  mythical  history  of  this  god.  He  was,  said  one  of  them,  an 
aboriginal  king  who  ruled  on  Mount  laniculum,  at  first  sharing 
his  throne  with  a  noble  whose  name  was  Camese,  but  later, 
when  luppiter's  divine  regime  began,  being  banished  along 
with  Saturnus  and  taking  up  his  abode  in  Latium.  In  another 
account  he  was  represented  as  having  come  to  Latium  from  the 
land  of  the  Perrhaiboians  together  with  his  sister-wife,  Camese, 
who  bore  hi:  three  sons,  one  of  them  being  Tiberinus,  after 
whom  the  Tiber  was  nan.  J.  The  legends  did  not  stint  lanus 
with  wives.  Besides  Camese  he  is  said  to  have  married  either 
the  water-nymph  \'enilia  and  by  her  to  have  become  the  father 
of  Canens,  or  the  water-nymph  luturna,  who  bore  to  him  Fons 
(or  Fontus).  .Again  he  is  said  to  have  conceived  a  passion  for  a 
certain  divinity  Carna,  whom  he  seized  in  a  grotto,  after  a 
long  pursuit,  promising  to  appoint  her  the  Goddess  of  Hinges 
should  she  yield  to  liim.  Upon  her  compliance  he  renamed  her 
Cardo,  or  Cardea  ("Hinge"),  and  gave  her  the  white  thorn 
with  which  to  banish  evil  from  doorways. 

Of  all  the  theories  to  account  for  the  origin  of  lanus  none 
is  more  probable  than  that  which  comprehends  him  as  a  per- 
sonality gradually  evolved  from  a  private  ritual  of  a  magical 
order  designed  to  drive  evil  influences  from  the  doors  of  dwell- 
ings. "The  very  vagueness  of  this  god,  even  with  the  Romans 
themselves,  indicates  that  their  interest  was  rather  in  the  con- 
crete values  associated  with  the  doorway  and  in  the  practical 
expedients  necessary  in  guarding  it."  '  As  the  state  was  simply 
an  enlarged  domestic  circle,  it  was  not  unnatural  that  lanus 
should  be  connected  with  the  ancient  gates  or  arches  in  the 
Forum  which  bore  his  name,  and  there,  In  the  late  Republican 
period,  stood  an  image  of  the  god  with  two  faces,  one  of  which 


2C)S 


GREP:K  and   ROMAN'   MYTHOLOGY 


■vvas  turned  toward  the  cast  and  tlic  other  toward  the  west. 
This  intimation  that  his  domain  hy  b.,  a  before  and  behind 
him  may  liavc  ing  from  the  very  obvious  fact  that  every 
entrance  has  .ides.    From  being  a  god  of  entrances  it  vvas 

not  a  far  cry  to  become  a  deity  of  beginnings,  and  as  such  he 
was  invoked  at  tlie  beginning  of  each  year,  each  month,  and 
each  day.  The  prominence  of  his  name  and  of  his  epithet, 
pater,  in  ancient  ceremonial  formulae  attests  his  great  age. 

I'fsta.  —  By  reason  of  her  fixed  character  \'esta  had  no 
place  in  formal  myth.  She  was  the  numen  of  the  hearth,  first 
of  the  home  and  then  of  the  state,  and  since  the  functions  and 
symbolism  of  the  hearth  never  changed  from  century  to  cen- 
tury, neither  could  \'esta  vary  a  jot  or  a  tittle  from  her  original 
conception  —  any  alteration  would  have  broken  the  thread 
of  continuity  in  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  Roman  as  a 
member  of  a  family  and  as  a  citizen.  In  the  home  Vesta  typi- 
fied and  protected  the  life  of  the  family;  the  food  in  the  larder, 
destined  to  be  subjected  to  the  heat  of  the  hearth-fiamc,  was 
under  her  care;  the  matron  was  her  priestess.  The  Temple 
(or,  better,  the  House)  of  \'esta  in  the  Forum  was  nothing 
less  than  the  home  and  fireside  of  the  state,  and  on  its  hearth 
the  six  Vestal  Virgins  prepared  sacrificial  offerings  in  behalf 
of  tlie  state  with  food  taken  from  the  sacred  larder,  while  the 
inviolability  of  the  home  and  the  integrity  of  the  state  were 
pictured  in  the  purity  of  \'esta  herself  and  of  her  Virgins.  Her 
title,  mater,  was  suggestive  of  her  graciousness. 

Di  Penates;  Lares.  —  Also  closely  connected  with  family 
life  were  the  Di  Penates,  the  numerous  divinities  of  the  penus, 
or  larder,  though  they  were  so  dimly  conceived  that  they  were 
endued  with  neither  sex  nor  personality,  their  plurality  being 
doubtless  derived  from  the  variety  and  the  changing  character 
of  the  stock  of  food-stuffs.  From  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar  and 
Augustus  the  mythical  idea  of  the  Trojan  origin  of  the  Penates 
prevailed.  The  Lares  are  linked  with  the  Penates  in  popular 
phrase,  jointly  constituting  a  synonym  for  household  property, 


NATIVE   ITALIC  GODS 


299 


but  at  the  outset,  apparently,  there  was  only  one  Lar  to  a 
household,  and  that  the  protecting  numcn  of  the  allotment  of 
land  on  which  the  actual  building  stood.  At  length  its  function 
was  broadened  so  as  to  include  the  house,  and  in  Imperial 
times  the  name  became  pluralized  and  acquired  a  character 
as  a  synonym  of  house.  When  Ovid  wrote  that  the  Lares  were 
the  children  of  the  outraged  Lara,  or  Dea  Tacita,  and  Mercury, 
he  was  indulging  his  fancy;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  were  some- 
times held  to  be  the  Roman  counterparts  of  the  Kourctes,  the 
Koryban   -s,  or  the  Daktyloi. 

Minena.  —  Any  complexity  there  was  in  the  personality  of 
the  static  divinity,  Minerva  (Menerva),  was  due  to  the  in- 
fluence of  Athene,  with  whom  she  was  identified,  for  in  her 
primitive  estate  she  seems  to  have  been  merely  the  goddess  of 
the  few  and  simple  arts  of  an  undeveloped  rustic  community. 
The  Romans  probably  got  her  from  Falerii  prior  to  its  fall  in 
241  B.C.  and  after  the  institution  of  the  so-called  Calendar  of 
Numa,  and  established  her  in  a  temple  in  the  Aventine  as  the 
patroness  of  the  crafts  and  the  guilds.  Her  inclusion  in  the 
Capitoline  triad  beside  luppiter  and  luno  may  have  resulted 
from  a  conscious  attempt  to  reproduce  in  Rome  a  group  like 
that  of  Zeus,  Hera,  and  Athene. 

(f)  Abstract  Gods 

The  inelastic  character  of  the  Roman's  religious  thinking 
is  nowhere  more  clearly  brought  out  than  in  t^e  circle  of  his 
abstract  divinities,  for  Pavor  ("Panic"),  Pax  ("Peace"), 
Concordia  (''Harmony"),  Spes  ("Hope"),  and  the  like,  were 
each  fixed  personalities  of  one  trait  and  one  trait  only,  a  cir- 
cumstance which  naturally  shut  them  out  from  narrative 
myth.  The  field  for  which  they  were  by  nature  suited  was  that 
of  stereotyped  symbolism,  and  only  so  far  as  an  accepted  reli- 
gious symbol  is  a  myth  may  they  be  considered  as  mythological 
personages.  They  and  their  sev<;ral  symbols  are  too  numerous 
for  us  to  discuss  here. 


300 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN   M\THOLOGY 


(p)   Momentary  and  Departmental  Gods 

The  great  host  of  the  Roman's  momcntaiy  and  departmental 
divinities,  eomnumly  known  to  scholars  as  SondergMer,  seem 
at  first  glance  to  be  an  argument  which  disproves  the  lack  of 
pliability  in  tiie  Roman's  habits  of   religious  thought.    As  a 
matter  of  fact,  however,  they  confirm  the  reality  of  this  char- 
acteristic, for  as  a  class  they  are  nothing  more  than  an  aggre- 
gate of  the  most  simply  conceived  units  which  sustain  to  one 
another  the  same  immediate  relations  that  exist  betw-n  the 
practical  interests  and  activities  of  a  primitive  people.    Some 
of  these  divinities,  such  as  Messor  ("Harvester"),  Convector 
("Garnerer"),   and   Saritor   ("Weeder"),  spiritualize   human 
acts,  while  others  spiritualize  certain  processes  of  nature  which 
are  conspicuous  either    in   themselves  or  in  their  results.    A 
chosen  few  of  this  latter  order  will  be  ample  for  the  purpose 
of  illustration:  Seia,  Segesta,  Nodutus,  Patelana,  and  Matura 
are  mmina  that  preside  successively  over  the  sowing  and  sprout- 
ing of  the  corn,  the  formation  of  the  joints  on  its  stem,  the  un- 
folding of  leaf  and  flower,  and,  finally,  the  ripening  of  straw 
and  ear.   Similarly  each  stage  of  a  child's  growth  from  concep- 
tion to  adult  stature  is  guarded  by  a  numen  whose  function  is 
transparent  in  its  commonly  accepted  name.    In  brief,  no  nat- 
ural  process   of  moment  to  the  Roman's  well-being   fails   to 
receive  recognition  as  a  divinity. 


III.   GODS  OF   FOREIGN  ORIGIN 

jpollo.  —  Apollo  was  from  the  beginning  frankly  a  loan 
from  the  Greek  world.  He  was  brought  to  Rome  in  the  fifth 
century  by  way  of  Cumac  as  a  god  of  healing  to  put  an  end 
to  a  great  plague  which  threatened  to  exterminate  the  populace, 
and  in  his  train  came  the  books  of  the  Sibylline  oracles.  In  the 
Augustan  age  the  average  Roman  knew  him  only  as  the  god 
of  poetry  and  music,  a  role  which  was  first  assigned  him  in 


in 
:h 
id 

c, 
ne 
xl 
in 


PLATE    LXII 

\'ai;na  Mater 

The  image  of  Kybeli",  or,  as  known  to  the  Romans, 
Magna  Maier,  is  seated  on  a  throne  placed  in  a  car 
drawn  bv  lions.  On  her  head  is  the  so-called  mural 
crown,  on  the  back  of  which  an  end  of  her  himation 
has  been  so  caught  up  as  to  hang  behind  her  like  a 
veil.  In  her  lap  she  holds  a  tympanon  on  edge.  This 
group  is  commemorative  of  an  annual  Roman  ritual  m 
which  the  image  of  the  CJreat  Mother  was  conveyed 
in  her  car  from  her  shrine  in  the  city  to  a  neighbour- 
ing stream,  where  both  were  ceremonially  bathed. 
From  a  bronze  of  the  second  century  .\.d.,  found  in 
Rome  and  now  in  the  .Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
New  York  [photograph).     See  pp.  2738".,  303-04. 


FOREIGN   GODS 


301 


Rome,  when  translations  of  Greek  literary  works  began  to 
attain  popularity.  Augustus  chose  him  as  the  divine  patron 
of  his  ri-gimc  and  dedicated  to  him  a  beautiful  temple  on  the 
Palatine. 

.Iisculapius.  —  Thc  outbreak  of  a  pestilence  at  Rome  in 
292  H.c.  turned  the  Romans  to  a  consultation  of  the  Sibylline 
books,  where  they  discovered  directi'  ^  enjoining  tlum  to 
send  a  deputation  of  citizens  to  the  healing  shrine  of  Asklepios 
at  Epidaiiros,  the  envoys  bringing  back  a  serpent  as  a  living 
symbol  of  the  god,  and  at  the  same  time  instructions  for 
establishing  the  new  worship.  It  happened  that  when  their 
ship  reached  the  city,  the  serpent  leaped  overboard  and  swam 
to  the  island  in  the  Tiber,  where  the  new  shrine  was  built, 
the  god's  name  being  given  tiie  Latin  form  of  Aesculapius. 
When  Salus,  originally  an  abstract  divinity  of  well-being  in 
general,  became  recognized  as  the  same  as  Hygieia  ("Health"), 
the  matter-of-fact  Roman  mind  made  her  the  official  consort 
of  the  new  god  of  healing. 

Mcrcurius.  —  In  the  early  fifth  century,  on  the  occasion  of 
a  failure  of  crops  which  necessitated  the  importation  of  foreign 
fcKjd-stufTs,  the  Romans  borrowed  one  phase  of  the  character 
of  Hermes,  and,  exalting  it  to  the  dignity  of  godhead,  used  it 
to  protect  the  maritime  routes  which  the  grain  ships  must  fol- 
low. Naturally,  this  phase  was  the  favour  which  Hermes  ac- 
corded to  trade  and  traders,  and  Mercurius,  the  name  of  the 
new  god,  connected  as  it  is  with  the  Latin  words  merces  ("mer- 
chandise") and  mercator  ("tradesman"),  served  as  a  permanent 
register  of  his  function.  While  Mercurius  always  took  the 
place  of  Hermes  in  the  Romanized  Greek  legends,  his  character 
in  cult  remained  unaltered  through  the  centuries.  In  art  he 
was  generally  distinguished  by  the  chief  symbols  of  Hermes  — 
the  caduceus,  the  pouch,  and  the  winged  hat. 

Castor  and  Polhtx.—The  worship  of  Kastor  and  Polydeu- 
kes,  as  Castor  and  Pollux,  came  to  Italy  at  so  early  a  date  that 
when  the  Romans  accepted  it,  apparently  from  Tusculum,  they 


■;o: 


(iRI.I.K   AM)   ROMAN   MVTIIOLOCIY 


did  so  uiulrr  tin-  impii  ssion  tliat  it  was  of  Italic  origin;  but  the 
outstati'ling  features  of  these  divinities  at  Rome  —  their  asso- 
ciation witlt  horses  and  lakes, 
and  tiuir  power  to  give  help  in 
time  of  need  —  were  brougiit 
with  them  from  Greece.  In 
myth  it  is  recorded  that  they 
sudden!)'  appeared  at  the  bat- 
tles of  Lake  Regillus,  Pydna, 
and  \'erona  just  in  time  to 
bring  vicUiry  to  tlie  Roman 
cause.  After  the  battle  of 
Lake  Regillus  they  were  seen 
to  water  their  hf)rses  in  the 
basin  of  the  fountain  of  lu- 
turna,  and  on  this  spot  the 
citizens  erected  a  shrine  known 
as  the  Temple  of  the  Castors, 
or  the  Temple  of  Castor. 

Ilcrculfs.  —  Under  the  name 
ui  Hercules  the  Creek  Herakles 
was  admitted  into  the  Roman 
family  of  gods  as  though  he 
were  a  native  Italic  divinity. 
At  his  very  ancient  altar,  the 
.■Ira  Maxima,  near  the  Forum 
Boarium,  or  the  cattle-market, 
he  was  worshipped  as  a  god 
powerful  to  aid  commerce  and 
other  practical  pursuits, 
whence,  accordingly,  titiies  of  profits  in  trade  and  of  the  booty 
of  war  were  dedicated  to  him. 

The  popularity  which  Herakles  enjoyed  in  Greece,  owing  to 
his  unparalleled  ability  to  bring  things  to  pass,  so  inspired  the 
Roman  imagination  that  almost  out  of  whole  cloth  it  marufac- 


FlG.    II. 


MaRRIA(;F.    <;F    ItnO    ANT) 
lltkcri  is 


Zeus,  scatcJ  on  .m  .iltar-likL'  thmnc  be- 
tnccn  liuii>  and  Hi-rciilcs,  draws  the  t\v" 
di\  initics  toward  one  anotlicr.  tlius  sancti- 
f\  ini;  their  union.  Krom  the  de-ipn  intised 
on  the  back  of  an  I'.truscan  bronze  mirror 
of  the  foiirtli  century  H.C.,  now  in  the  Met- 
ropolitan Museum  of  Art,  New  York. 


FOREIGN  GODS 


303 


tiired   mythological   forms   to  glorify   the   adopted   Hercules. 
Not  only  did  he  have  an  intrigue  with  a  certain  Acca  Larentia, 
but  hi      as  the  husband  now  of  luno,  now  of  Kvander's  daugh- 
ter, now  of  Rhea,  now  of  Fauna;  and  by  the  last  three  in  this 
order  he  became  the  father  of  Pallas,  Aventinus,  and  Latinus. 
Among  his  mighty  feats  were  numbered  his  retention  of  the 
waters  of  Lake  Avtrnus  in  their  basin  by  me.-.ns  of  a  dam,  and 
his  slaughter  of  some  threatening  giants  at  Cumae.    When  he 
was  returning  eastward  through  Italy  with  the  cattle  of  Geryo- 
neus,  we  are  told,  some  of  his  herd  were  stolen  by  a  native 
shepherd  named  Cacus  (apparently  an  aboriginal  fire-god)  and 
driven  backward  into  a  cave;   but,  although  at  first  puzzled 
by  the  inverted  tracks,  Hercules  at  length  succeeded  in  locat- 
ing and  recovering  the  animals  and  U\  killing  the  thief.    He 
then  made  himself  known  to  Evander,  an  Arkadian  refugee 
ruling  on  the  Palatine,  who  received  him  with  unbounded  hos- 
pitality and  dedicated  to  him  the  .ha  Maxima,  the  ceremonies 
observed  at  this  altar  by  Evander  becoming  the  model  of  those 
used  in  the  worship  of  Hercules  through  succeeding  centuries. 

Dis  Pater.  —  Dis  Pater  —  also  known  as  Orcus  —  and  Pro- 
serpina were  both  Greek,  the  name  Dis  being  simply  a  trans- 
lation of  Il\oin-a)»'  ("Wealthy")  and  that  of  Orcus  a  faulty 
transliteration  of  "(V«o?,  the  "oath"  sworn  in  the  name  of 
Hades,  while  Proserpina  is  obviously  an  adaptation  of  Per- 
sephone. To  the  Roman  Dis  Pater  was  the  chief  god  of  the  lower 
world  in  his  function  as  king  of  the  departed,  and  Orcus  was  the 
same  deity  in  his  role  as  the  inexorable  reaper,  or,  occasionally, 
as  that  divinity  who  takes  pity  on  suffering  mortals  and  gently 
bears  them  away  to  their  long  rest,  the  nature  of  Orcus  being 
so  readily  grasped  by  the  Roman  mind,  in  its  slavery  to  fact, 
that  he  was  the  more  popular  of  the  two  forms. 

Magna  Mater.  —  In  the  midst  of  the  Romans'  despair  of 
receiving  help  against  Hannibal  from  their  accepted  gods  they 
turned,  in  obedience  to  a  Sibylline  oracle,  to  the  Asiatic  Magna 
Mater,  the  "Great  Mother"  of  the  gods.   With  the  permission 


304  CREEK  AND   ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

of  Attalos  of  Pcrgamon  they  brought  to  Rome  from  Phrygia 
the  meteoric  stone  which  embodied  her  and  then  estabhshed  a 
festival  for  the  re-enactment  of  the  rites  which  characterized 
her  worship  in  the  east.  She  accompHshed  the  purpose  for  which 
slie  liad  been  brought  and  drove  Hannibal  out  of  Italy,  but  in 
spite  of  his  gratitude  to  her,  the  sedate  Roman  never  became 
tlioroughly  accustomed  to  the  wild  abandon  of  her  votaries. 


1\.   MYTHS  OF  THE  EARLY   DAYS  OF   ROME 

The  Jem-id  of  Vergil.  —  In  their  nationr.l  epics  Naevius  and 
Ennius  had  made  the  glory  of  the  city  their  central  interest  and 
had  popularized  the  idea  that  the  founders  of  Rome  were  of 
Trojan  stock.  Vergil  took  over  these  motives,  and,  by  injecting 
into  them  his  own  deep  love  of  his  land  and  his  broodings  on 
the  life  and  destiny  of  man,  and  by  lavishing  on  them  his 
chastened  poetical  skill,  produced  the  greatest  of  all  Roman 
epics,  the  Aeneid,  which  tells  the  story  of  the  wanderings  of 
Trojan  Aeneas. 

Aeneas  (Greek  Aineias),  as  we  have  read,  was  the  son  of 
Anchises  and  \'enus  (i.  e.  Aphrodite).  Amid  the  confusion 
attendant  on  the  sack  of  Troy,  he  made  his  way  with  his  father 
and  little  son,  lulus,  to  the  shelter  of  the  wooded  heights  near 
the  city,  and  there  gathered  about  him  a  number  of  fugitives, 
whom  he  led  in  making  preparations  to  sail  away  to  a  strange 
land  and  found  a  new  home.  After  many  busy  weeks  they  set 
out,  first  crossing  to  Thrace  and  then  steering  southward  to 
Delos,  where,  at  the  shrine  of  Apollo,  they  were  bidden  by 
the  oracle  to  seek  the  motherland  of  their  ancestors  and 
there  make  their  abode.  Believing  that  this  referred  to  Crete, 
Aeneas  led  his  followers  thither,  but  after  the  little  colony 
had  suflFercd  many  misfortunes  he  was  warned  in  a  dream  to 
establish  it  instead  in  the  western  land  of  Hesperia  (i.  e.  Italy). 
In  the  quest  of  this  country  he  again  set  sail  with  his  follow- 
ers, and  many  were  the  vicissitudes  of  their  long  voyage.  They 


EARLY   DAYS   OF   ROME 


305 


came  successively  to  the  island  of  the  Harpies,  to  the  home  of 
Helenus  and  Andromache  on  the  coast  of  Epirus,  and  to  the 
land  of  the  Cyclops,  where  they  saw  the  blinded  Polyphemus. 
In  an  endeavour  to  avoid  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  they  hugged 
the  southern  shores  of  Sicily  with  the  intention  of  doubling 
the  western  extremity  of  the  island,  but  luno  espied  them,  and, 
unable  to  forget  that  they  belonged  to  the  Trojan  race  which 
she  hated,  roused  a  great  storm  that  drove  them  on  the  coast 
of  Carthage. 

At  this  time  Carthage  was  ruled  by  a  Tyrian  queen  named 
Dido,  who  welcomed  the  fugitives  into  her  court,  entertaining 
them  for  many  months  as  though  they  were  a  company  of 
kings,  and  at  her  request  Aeneas  told  the  story  of  the  fall  of 
his  city  and  of  his  perilous  voyage  from  land  to  land  in  his 
search  for  a  home.  His  personal  charms  won  her  love,  and  she 
offered  to  share  her  kingdom  with  him,  but  when,  weary  of 
wandering  longer  and  despairing  of  finding  his  destined  land, 
Aeneas  was  on  the  point  of  yielding  to  her  passionate  impor- 
tunities, luppiter,  through  Mercury,  roused  him  from  his 
lethargy  and  turned  his  face  once  more  toward  the  ships  and 
the  sea. 

Re-embarking,  the  Trojans  sailed  northward  and  under  the 
protection  of  Neptune  reached  the  shores  of  Hesperia  near 
Cumae,  the  home  of  the  Sibyl.  Here,  like  Odysseus  in  Kim- 
meria,  Aeneas  made  the  descent  into  Hades  aud  saw  many 
dire  monsters  and  the  shadowy  troops  of  the  dead.  After  con- 
versing with  the  shades  of  some  whom  he  had  known  in  life, 
he  turned  to  make  his  way  upward  to  the  light,  his  path 
leading  him  through  Elysium,  where  he  found  the  shade  of 
his  father,  Anchises,  who  had  died  since  the  departure  from 
Troy.  By  him  he  was  led  into  the  spacious  Vale  of  Forget- 
fulness  and  was  shown  the  vast  assemblage  of  souls  that  tvere 
waiting  to  be  implanted  in  some  human  body  and  given  life 
upon  earth,  while  Anchises  also  revealed  to  him  the  trials 
which  he  had  yet  to  experience  in  establishing  his  colony  in 


306         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

Italy  and  the  glories  of  the  great  nation  into  which  the  exiles 
were  destined  to  grow.  Pondering  these  things  in  his  heart, 
Aeneas  pursued  his  way  back  to  earth. 

From  Cumae  Aeneas  sailed  northward  until  he  cast  anchor 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber  off  the  coast  of  Latium  at  a  time 
when  the  king  of  this  country  was  Latinus,  the  son  of  Faunus 
and  a  grandson  of  Saturn.  Recognizing  in  Aeneas  the  man  who, 
accoiding  to  a  prophecy,  was  to  be  the  husband  of  his  only 
daughter,  Lavinia,  he  entered  into  a  political  alliance  with 
him  and  promised  to  make  him  his  son-in-law,  thereby  annul- 
ling Lavinia's  betrothal  toTurnus,  the  king  of  the  neighbouring 
Rutulians.    Through  the  interference  of  the  implacable  luno 
this  led  to  a  long  war  between  Turnus  and  Latinus,  but  though 
the  latter  was  killed  in  one  of  the  early  struggles,  his  forces, 
aided  by  Aeneas  and  his  men,  succeeded  in  winning  a  victory. 
Turnus,  defeated  but  not  discouraged,  called  to  his  assistance 
Mezentius,  the  Etruscan  king,  and  to  such  an  extent  did  he 
threaten  the  supremacy  of  the  Trojans  that  the  latter  asso- 
ciated themselves  with  a  band  of  Greek  colonists  who,  under 
the  leadership  of  Evander  and  his  son  Pallas,  were  living  on 
the  hills  destined  to  be  included  in  the  city  of  Rome.    In  th. 
conflicts  that  ensued,  Pallas  was  slain  by  Turnus,  and,  later, 
Mezentius  and  Turnus  fell  at  the  hand  of  Aeneas,  the  Trojans 
achieving,  through  the  death  of  this  last  foe,  a  victory  which 
gave  them  undisputed  possession  of  the  land.    At  this  point 
the  narrative  of  the  Aeneid  ends,  leaving  the  reader  to  infer 
that  the  nuptials  of  Aeneas  and  Lavinia  were  promptly  con- 
summated. 

Events  subsequent  to  those  of  the  Aeneid.  —  After  his  mar- 
riage, Aeneas  founded  in  Latium  a  new  city  which  he  called 
Lavinium  after  his  wife,  and  when  he  died  a  short  time  later, 
his  subjects,  regarding  him  as  a  god,  gave  him  the  title  of 
luppiter  Indigcs.  About  thirty  years  subsequent  to  the  found- 
ing of  Lavinium,  Ascanius,  the  son  whom  Lavinia  bore  to 
Aeneas,  withdrew  a  portion  of  its  population  and  established 


PLATE    LXIII 

Romulus  and  Remus 

This  archaic  Italian  bronze  is  commonly  interpreted 
as  representing  the  she-wolf  suckling  Romulus  and 
Remus  in  the  wild  lands  near  the  Tiber;  it  may  have 
originally  referred,  however,  to  other  legendary  char- 
acters who  were  said  to  have  been  similarly  reared. 
From  a  bronze  in  the  Conservatory  Museum,  Rome 
(Brunn-Bruckmann,  Denkmakr  griechtscher  und  rSm- 
ischer  Scu/ptur,  No,  318).     See  p.  307. 


EARLY  DAYS  OF   ROME 


307 


the  colony  of  Alba  Longa,  over  which  he  and  his  descendants 
ruled  for  several  successive  generations. 

At  length  a  quarrel  arose  between  Numitor  and  Amulius, 
two  brothers  in  the  direct  line  of  descent,  as  to  which  of  them 
should  reign,  and  Amulius,  the  younger  and  less  scrupulous, 
getting  the  upper  hand,  banished  his  brother,  and,  in  order  to 
wipe  out  that  branch  of  the  family,  forced  his  niece,  Rea  Silvia, 
to  take  the  vows  of  a  Vestal.  But  his  wicked  designs  were  frus- 
trated by  destiny,  for  the  god  Mars  looked  with  favour  on  the 
maiden,  and  by  him  she  became  the  mother  of  twin  boys, 
Romulus  and  Remus.  When  Amulius  learned  of  their  birth, 
he  cruelly  had  them  set  adrift  in  a  basket  on  the  flooded  Tiber, 
but  when  the  water  subsided,  they  were  left  on  dry  land  and 
were  found  and  nursed  by  a  she-wolf.  As  it  happened,  the 
king's  shepherd,  Faustulus,  came  across  them  in  the  wild  lands 
and  taking  them  to  his  home  reared  them  as  his  own  sons. 
When  they  had  become  men,  they  learned  of  their  relationship 
to  Amulius  and  of  his  wicked  deeds,  and,  accordingly,  with  a 
band  of  youths  they  attacked  him  in  his  palace,  slew  him,  and 
restored  the  kingdom  of  Alba  Longa  to  their  grandfather, 
Numitor.  Unable  to  sever  their  connexions  with  the  locality 
where  they  had  spent  their  boyhood,  they  jointly  founded  a 
new  city  there,  but  when  it  became  necessary  to  decide  the 
question  as  to  which  of  them  should  rule,  they  fell  to  quarrel- 
ling, until  finally,  in  an  outburst  of  anger,  Rom.ulus  killed 
Remus,  and,  now  without  a  rival,  assumed  the  title  and  the 
powers  of  king.  To  perpetuate  his  own  name  he  called  his  city 
Rome. 


^  •! 


1—24 


APPENDIX 


I.     SURVIVALS   OF    ANCIF.NT   GRF.F.K.    DIVINITIES    AND    MYTHS    IN 

MODKRN   GRFFCK 

IN  lOlo  Mr.  J.  C.  Lawson  published  at  Cambridjrc  a  book  entitled 
ModernGreek  Folklore  a>id  Ancit-nl  Gretk  ^<'/ij,'io«,  basing  his  treatise 
mainly  on  his  own  invcstijiations,  yet  also  taking  into  account  those 
of  his  predecessors  in  the  held,  Polites,  Hahn,  Schmidt,  Bent,  and 
others.  In  undertaking  his  task  he  was  more  timely  than  he  knew, 
anticipating  as  he  did  by  only  a  small  margin  of  years  both  the 
Balkan  War  and  the  present  European  War.  In  view  of  the  rapidly 
changing  conditions  of  life  and  thought  in  the  peninsula  since  191 2, 
no  one  can  entertain  a  doubt  that  Mr.  Lawson  has  gathered  togecher, 
just  before  it  is  too  late,  certain  popular  beliefs  of  undeniable  an- 
tiquity which  are  of  incalculable  importance  to  the  student  of  com- 
parative religion  in  general  and  to  the  student  of  the  ancient  Oreek 
religion  in  particular.  It  is  generally  regretted,  however,  that  his  book 
lacks  the  happy  miiltiim  in  parvo  which  would  have  made  it  more 
useful  to  scholars  and  would  have  ensured  it  a  wider  circle  of  lay 
readers;  his  proli.x  discussion,  for  instance,  of  Kallikantzaroi,  and  the 
protracted  study  of  rczenants  among  the  Slavonic  stocks,  are,  to  say 
the  least,  ennuyeux  as  well  as  of  doubtful  profit,  even  for  those  thor- 
oughly interested  in  such  themes.  Nevertheless,  we  overlook  these 
faults  in  recognition  of  the  true  worth  of  the  volume,  and  in  the  para- 
graphs which  follow  we  shall  present  a  summary  of  those  features  of 
the  book  which  reflect  most  clearly  the  principal  gods  and  myths  dis- 
cussed in  our  own  study. 

The  objection  is  frequently  urged  that  the  strong  Slavic  strain  in 
the  population  of  modern  Greece  precludes  the  possibility  of  differ- 
entiating, with  any  degree  of  certainty,  the  purely  Greek  elements 
in  the  belief  of  the  common  people  from  those  factors  which  have 
their  origin  in  other  sources.  Mr.  Lawson's  reply  to  this  is  very  con- 
vincing. He  points  out'  that  "even  in  the  centre  of  the  Peloponnese 
where  the  Slavonic  element  has  probably  been  strongest,  the  pure 
Greek  type  is  not  wholly  extinct,"  and  also  that  in  many  of  the 
islands  the  pcpulation  is  admittedly  of  an  almost  unmixed  Greek  de- 
scent. The  probability  of  the  continuity  of  Greek  tradition,  at  least 
in  certain  districts,  is  therefore  very  strong.    At  any  rate  "the  exact 


312         r.RII  Iv  AND   ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY 

pn.porii-'ii  of  Slavonic  aiiJ  of  Hcllciuc  bloini  in  llic  veins  of  the  mod- 
ern Creeks  is  not  a  matter  of  -uprcmc  importance." 

Onh  ill  a  few  l.)caliiie>,  n.  tably  in  Crete,  iloes  any  form  of  the 
name  Of  Zeii-  survive,  hut  the  jroJ  >iill  h\es  under  the  title  0«6t 
("CiDiJ"),  a  title  so  omMiiicntly  e|ui\<>iMl  that  tlie  Christian  can 
Use  it  without  heres>  and  at  the  -ami  lime  Mjuare  perfectly  with  the 
ancient  pairaii  In-lief  I'or  in>tani.c.  the  modern  Creek  says,  ^p«X" 
6  (Uov  ("Cod  rains"].  ■  .  6  Otos  pix'"  "po  ("Ciod  is  throwing  water"), 
just  as  the  ani.uut  Naid,  '/.us  i"  I  'Zeus  rains  ).  \\  lien  it  thunders, 
the  modern  excL.iins,  Jpofrori'  ra  TrtraXa  "iro  t'  0X070  rov  ihov  ("the 
hoofs  of  (Mini's  h.'ise  are  resoundinir").  an  expression  which  instantly 
calls  to  mind  the  story  of  IVt-asos  in  the  stables  of  Olympus  or  har- 
ne>sed  to  the  rolliiiL'  lar  of  Zeus.  The  liuhininK  is  Cod's  peculiar 
prero>.'alive  and  .a  times  is  even  employed  as  an  instrument  of 
vengeance  on  otFin  linL-  mortals  ur  devils  as  on  the  Titans  and  Sal- 
nioneus  of  cjld. 

Posfidon  survives  in  function  and  attribute  only,  though  he  can 
be  idcntitied  as  the  di\inity  with  the  trident  alluded  to  in  a  story  of 
Zak\iilhos  which    Mr     l.awson-   borrows    from    Ikrnhard  Schmidt. 
"A  knp  who  was  •  .ic   -tronpest   man  of   his   time   made  war  on  a 
neighbour.     His  strcntrth  lav  in  three  hairs  on  his  breast.     He  was 
on  the  point  "f  crushing  hi>  foes  when  his  wife  was  bribed  to  cut  off 
the   hairs,   and   he   with    thirteen   companions   was   taken   prisoner. 
But  the  hairs  began  to  grow  again,  and  so  his  enemies  threw  him  and 
his  companions  into  a  pit.     The  others  were  killed  by  the  fall,  but 
he  being  thrown  in  last,  fell  upon  them  and  was  unhurt.    Over  the 
pit  his  enemies  then  raised  a  mound.     He  found  however  in  the  pit 
a  dead  bird,  and  having  fastened  its  wings  to  his  hands  flew  up  and 
carried  away  mound  and  all  with  him.    Then  he  soared  high  in  the 
air  until  a  storm  of  rain  washed  away  the  clay  that  held  the  feathers 
to  his  hands,  and  he  fell  into  the  sea.    'Then  from  out  the  sea  came 
the  god  thereof  (6  banxovas  t^s  QaXacaas)  and  struck  him  with  a  three- 
pronged  fork  (Mia  irnpovva.  ni  rpia  SodXm)'  and  changed  him  Into  a 
dolphin  until  such  time  as  he  should  find  a  maiden  ready  to  be  his 
wife.     The  dolphin  after  some  time  saved  a  ship-wrecked  king  and 
his  dauL'hicr,  and  the  princess  by  way  of  reward  took  him  for  her 
husband   and    the    spell   was    broken."     This    story  contains    clear 
reminiscences  of  Nisos  and   Ikaros  as  well  as  of  the  ancient  god 

of  the  sea. 

To  the  Creek  of  today  the  Archangel  Michael  is  as  Hermes  to  the 
pre-Christian  Creek,  being  the  psychopomp,  the  divine  escort  of 
souls  to  the  afterworld,  which  is  still  popularly  located  in  the  heart 
cf  earth.  In  the  Maina,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Peloponnese, 
the  belief  prevails  that,  with  drawn  sword  in  hand,  Michael  keeps 


APPENDIX 


313 


sentry  on  the  mouths  of  the  great  cavern  of  Tainaros,  which  is  still 
the  best  known  appmach  to  the  umlcrworld. 

The  character  ami  functions  of  Dinnysos  arc  transferred  to  Saint 
Diunysios  in  a  legend  told  in  man\  places.  "Once  upon  a  time 
Saint  Dionysios  was  on  his  way  to  \axos:  and  as  he  went  he  espicJ  a 
small  plant  which  excited  his  wonder.  He  duB  it  up,  and  because  the 
sun  was  hot  soui'lit  wherewith  to  shelter  it.  .\s  he  looked  about,  he 
saw  the  bone  of  a  bird's  le^-,  and  in  this  he  put  the  plant  to  keep  it 
safe.  To  his  surprise  the  plant  be^'an  to  jrrow,  and  he  sought  again 
a  larger  covering  for  it.  This  time  he  found  the  leg-bone  of  a  lion, 
and  as  he  cmild  not  detach  the  plant  from  the  bird's  leg,  he  put  both 
t..irethci  in  thai  of  the  lion.  \ct  a^ain  it  grew  and  this  time  he  found 
the  leg-bone  of  an  ass  and  put  plant  and  all  into  that.  .\iid  so  he 
came  to  Na.xos.  And  when  he  came  to  plai.'  the  vine  —  for  the 
plant  was  in  fact  the  first  vine  —  he  could  not  sev>.-  it  from  the  bones 
that  sheltered  it,  but  planted  them  all  together.  Then  the  vine  grew 
and  'oore  grapes  and  men  made  wine  and  drank  thereof.  .And  first 
when  they  drank  they  sang  like  birds,  and  when  they  drank  more 
they  grew  strong  as  lions,  and  afterwards  foolish  as  asses." »  A  similar 
popular  identification  of  this  beneficent  ,,uint  with  Dionysos  is  also 
to  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  road  which  skirts  the  south  side 
of  the  Athenian  Acropolis  and  the  ancient  theatre  of  Dionysos  is  at 
present  known  as  the  street  of  Saint  Dionysios. 

Of  all  the  survivals  of  the  greater  goddesses,  the  most  conspicuous 
is  Demeter,  wh(.  lives  on  in  three  forms.  In  one  of  these  she  retains 
her  agrarian  relations,  but  has  changed  her  sex  and  taken  on  the 
name  of  Saint  Demetrios,  whereas  at  L'.lcusis  she  has  well  maintained 
her  old  character  under  the  name  of  Saint  Demctra.  There  is  a 
popular  myth  concerning  the  saint,  which,  in  spile  of  its  many  con- 
taminations of  ancient  and  mediaeval  elements,  is  distinctly  reminis- 
cent of  the  iad  wanderings  of  Demeter  in  her  search  for  the  lost 
Persephone.  Along  with  Aphrodite  and  Pyrrha,  Demeter  contributes 
traits  to  the  modern  Goddess  of  the  Sea  and  Earth.  This  hybrid 
divinity,  the  story  runs,  drowned  all  mankind  by  sending  a  flood  upon 
the  earth  as  a  punishment  of  human  sin,  but  on  the  subsidence  of 
the  waters  she  created  a  new  race  by  sowing  stones. 

In  Aitolia,  the  land  of  Aialanie,  the  huntress  Artemis  survives  as 
i,  Kvpa  KdXco'c'Lady  Kalo"),  a  title  which  seems  to  be  more  than  a 
mere  echo  of  the  divine  Kalliste  and  her  mythic  double,  Kallisto. 
In  some  localities,  however,  Artemis,  like  Demeter,  has  gone  over  to 
the  opposite  sex  and  is  now  known  as  Saint  Artemidoros,  who,  iti  his 
capacity  as  special  patron  of  weakling  children,  is  plainly  the  direct 
successor  of  the  ancient  "Apr«M«  7rai5orp6</>os. 

At  Eleusis  Aphrodite  (li  nvpi.  '^poSirtj)  has  become  the  beautiful 


314 


GREEK  AXD   ROMAN'   MYTHOLOGY 


dau''..  Saint  Demetra,  although   she  is   also  associated  with 

Daj nn  the  heights  of  Corinth,  at  both  of  which  places  she  had 

shrines  in  ancient  times,  while  the  people  of  Zakynthos  still  know 
her  as  the  mother  of  Eros  ("Epwras).  The  chaste  Athene,  on  the 
other  hand,  survives  only  in  the  recollection  that  the  Parthenon  was 
at  one  time  converted  into  a  church  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

Although  the  Nereids  were  to  the  ancient  Greeks  a  lesser  order  of 
divinities,  they  are  perhaps  the  chiefest  in  the  ill-co-ordinated  pan- 
theon of  the  modern.  Their  collective  name,  Xepdi'Ses,  appears  in 
numerous  dialectic  forms,  and  this  term,  like  the  ancient  designa- 
tion NiV^iai.  is  broadly  inclusive  of  all  types  of  female  spirits  of  the 
wild  —  of  water,  wood,  mountain,  spring,  and  stream.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  Nereids  is  suspected  everywhere  in  the  great  out-of- 
doors,  and  they  arc  conceived  as  "women  half-divine  yet  not  im- 
mortal, always  young,  alwa\-s  beautiful,  capricious  at  best,  and  at 
their  worst  cruel."  ^  In  some  districts  they  have  borrowed  from  the 
satyrs  the  feet  of  goats  or  of  asses.  Human  beings  and  animals  alike 
are  liable  to  fall  under  their  spells,  and  like  Thetis  and  her  kindred 
folk  of  the  sea  they  have  the  power  of  transforming  themselves  at 
pleasure.  The  Nereids  of  the  springs  sometimes  steal  children  as 
the  nymphs  of  old  carried  otT  Hylas,  and  when  they  pass  over  the 
land,  their  paths  are  marked  by  whirlwinds.  So  close  are  they  still 
to  the  lives  of  the  common  people  that  they  are  believed  to  consort 
with  men  and  to  bear  them  children. 

The  grim  grey  ferryman  Charon  is  now  known  as  Charos,  o  "ss 
frequently,  Charondas,  but  in  the  process  of  centuries  he  has  Decn 
almost  utterly  despoiled  of  his  craft  and  oar,  and,  as  the  god  of  death, 
has  assumed  the  sceptre  of  the  underworld.  Hades  being  no  longer  a 
person,  but  a  place  whither  Charos  receives  the  souls  of  the  de- 
parted. Associated  with  Charos  are  his  wife  Charissa,  or  Charondissa, 
a  merely  nominal  female  counterpart,  and  a  three-headed  snake, 
although  according  to  a  Macedonian  story,  his  animal  companion 
is  a  three-headed  dog,  which  can  be  none  other  than  the  hell-hound 
Kerberos.  There  exist  only  sporadic  traces  of  the  old  custom  of 
placing  a  coin  in  the  mouth  of  a  corpse  as  passage-money  lue  to 
Charon.  The  prominent  place  occupied  by  Charos  in  the  thought 
of  the  modern  Greek  suggests  that  his  prototype  was  a  much  more 
important  personage  in  the  popular  mythology  of  the  ancient  than 
the  literature  would  lead  one  to  believe,  and  it  may  be  that  among 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  people  Charon,  rather  than  Hades,  v  as  the 
Lord  of  the  Dead. 

The  most  monstrous  of  the  mythical  creatures  living  in  the 
imagination  of  the  modern  Hellenes  arc  the  Kallikantzaroi,  whose 
name,  like  that  of  the  Nereids,  appears  in  many  dialectic  forms,  and 


APPENDIX 


315 


is  derived,  Lawson  believes  and  takes  great  pains  to  demonstrate, 
from  that  of  the  Centaurs.  Be  this  as  it  may,  at  least  a  part  of  the 
bestial  habits  of  the  Kallikantzaroi  have  been  drawn  from  the 
Centaurs.  They  are  divided  into  two  classes,  according  as  they  are 
of  more  than  or  less  than  human  size,  those  of  the  former  category 
being  repulsive  to  look  upon  and  generally  malevolent,  while  those 
of  the  second  type  are  given  to  frolic  and  mischif^f  and  are  harmless 
to  men,  though  not  to  animals. 

In  the  faith  of  the  populace  the  Moirai,  or  Fates,  still  possess  a 
very  real  vitality  and  are  endowed  with  a  large  measure  of  their 
primitive  powers.  In  a  story  current  in  a  certain  district  of  Epeiros 
they  are  three  in  number,  the  tirst  of  whom  spins  the  thread  which 
determines  the  length  of  each  human  life,  the  second  accords  good 
fortune,  and  the  third  evil  fortune.  They  are  regarded  as  inhabiting 
caves  and  even  artihcially  wrought  openings  in  the  sides  of  hills, 
such  as  the  rock-dwellings  in  the  Hill  of  the  Muses  at  Athens. 
\\'omen  rather  than  men  are  their  most  constant  votaries,  matrons 
generally  consulting  them  in  reference  to  motherhood,  and  maidens 
in  regard  to  matrimony.  Offerings  are  made  to  them  with  the  ob- 
ject of  winning  their  favour  and  of  influencing  their  decrees,  which 
are  inalterable  when  once  they  have  been  issued. 

Pan  is  not  yet  dead,  ancient  legend  to  the  contrary,  and  Lawson' 
gives  the  epitome  of  a  story  treating  of  him  taken  from  Schmidt's 
collection  of  folk-tales.  "Once  upon  a  time  a  priest  had  a  good  son 
who  tended  goats.  One  day  'Panos'  gave  him  a  kid  with  a  skin  of 
gold.  He  at  once  ofliered  it  as  a  burnt-offering  to  God,  and  in  answer 
an  angel  promised  him  whatever  he  should  ask.  He  chose  a  magic 
pipe  which  should  make  all  his  hearers  dance.  So  no  enemy  could 
come  near  to  touch  him.  The  king  however  sent  for  him,  and  the 
goatherd,  after  making  the  envoys  dance  more  than  once,  volun- 
tarily let  himself  be  taken.  The  king  then  threw  him  into  prison, 
but  he  had  his  flute  still  with  him,  and  when  he  played  even  houses 
and  rocks  danced,  and  fell  and  crushed  all  save  him  and  his.  'The 
whole  business,'  concludes  the  story,  'was  arranged  by  Panos  to 
cleanse  the  world  somewhat  of  evil  men.'  ...  If  the  tale  be  a  piece 
of  genuine  tradition  [i.  e.  not  a  scholastic  revival],  the  conclusion  of 
it  is  remarkable.  The  moral  purpose  ascribed  to  the  deity  seems  to 
indicate  a  loftier  conception  of  him  than  that  which  is  commonly 
found  in  ancient  art  and  literature." 


1 


3i6         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


II.    SLRVIXALS   OF    DIVINITIES    AND   MITHS   OF    TIIF.   ETRUSCANS 
AND    ROMANS   IN   THE   ROMAGNOI.A 

Although  Charles  Godfrey  Leland's  book,  Etrusco-Roman  R,-- 
pjains,  first  appeared  as  lonp  ago  as  i8<)2,  it  is  still  the  best  compila- 
tion of  the  modern  survivals  of  any  ancient  Italian  religion.  It  must, 
however,  be  used  with  great  caution.  In  the  first  place,  it  treats 
merely  of  one  small  district  in  the  north  of  Italy,  the  Tuscan  Ro- 
magna,  or  Romagnola,  whose  inhabitants  speak  a  rude  form  of  the 
Bologncse  dialect,  so  that  one  must  refrain  from  applying  the  au- 
thor's remarks  and  deductions  to  the  whole  Italian  people  of  today. 
In  the  next  place,  Leland  was  not  a  scholar  in  the  best  sense,  for  his 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  religion  and  mythology  was  only  superficial, 
and  his  judgements  are,  consequently,  very  far  from  safe.  His  book 
is  written  throughout  in  a  journalistic  style,  intimate  and  spirited, 
but  careless  and  uncritical.  Nevertheless,  Leland  must  be  given 
credit  for  having  been  an  enthusiastic  and  enterprising  investigator, 
and  for  having  shown  a  remarkable  faculty  in  winning  the  confi- 
dence of  the  simple  but  suspicious  folk  of  the  Romagnola  and  in 
inducing  them  to  yield  to  him  the  secrets  of  la  vecchia  rdigionf, 
whence  scholars  should  be  grateful  to  him  for  blazing  a  trail  for  them 
through  a  wilderness  hitherto  almost  unknown.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  as 
Professor  \V.  Warde  Fowler  says,  that  the  pioneer  work  of  Lelarid 
will  lead  some  really  qualified  investigator  to  undertake  a  study  in 
Italian  survivals  similar  to  that  made  by  Lawson  in  the  vague  traces 
of  Greek  myths  still  existing  in  modern  times. 

The  religions  of  the  Etruscans  and  the  Romans  appear  today 
merely  as  disjecta  membra,  and  even  when  the  divinities  can  be  recog- 
nized, they  have  lost  the  sharp  definition  of  character  and  function 
which  distinguished  them  of  olu,  because  of  the  utter  disappearance 
of  some  traits  and  through  the  obscuration  of  others.  An  explana- 
tion may  be  readily  seen  if  one  reflects  that  this  vecchia  religione,  or 
"old  religion,"  is  really  much  less  a  religion  than  a  system  of  magic, 
a  stregeria,  as  indeed  it  is  frankly  called  by  the  people  whom  it  serves, 
the  tendency  of  magic  being  to  narrow  down  the  functions  of  divini- 
ties as  far  as  possible. 

In  name  luppiter  is  dead,  but  his  prerogative  of  control  over  the 
phenomena  of  lightning,  thunder,  and  hail  is  still  held  by  the  great 
folletto  ("spirit")  Tinia,  who  cannot  well  be  other  than  Tina  (or 
Tinia),  the  head  of  the  Etruscan  pantheon,  and  the  people  dread  this 
spirit's  power  of  destruction  on  home  and  field  and  flock  as  their 
primitive  ancestors  feared  luppiter  and  Tina.  Terminus,  the  god  of 
boundaries,  born  of  an  epithet  of  luppiter,  survives  under  the  name 


APPENDIX 


317 


of  Sentiero,  the  spirit  of  the  boundary-stone,  and  those  who  wantonly 
remove  such  landmarks  expose  themselves  to  the  vindictive  attacks 
of  the  Sentieri. 

In  Jano  with  his  two  heads,  one  human  and  the  other  animal,  we 
may  easily  recognize  the  ancient  lanus  bifrons  of  the  Forum  and  the 
coins,  and  Jano's  function  of  presiding  over  chance  is  simply  a  natu- 
ral development  of  lanus's  oversight  of  incipient  undertakings. 

Maso,  "a  very  great /o//^«o"  who  protects  the  crops,  may  derive 
his  name  and  office  from  those  of  the  primitive  Mars,  who  is  believed 
by  many  to  have  been  a  deity  of  the  fields  and  marchlands  before 
war  became  his  special  sphere  of  operations. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Fanio  is  the  successor  of  Faunus  in 
the  latter's  role  of  the  practical  joker  of  the  woodland  sprites.  Fanio 
suddenly  comes  on  peasants  in  the  thickets,  frightening  them  out 
of  their  wits  and  laughing  at  the  consternation  he  has  caused,  while 
at  weddings  he  often  anticipates  the  bridegroom  in  his  embraces, 
and  when  the  young  hu.^band  bursts  into  a  rage,  he  interrupts  him 
with  a  laugh,  saying: 

"Who  am  I?  —  if  you  would  know, 
I'm  the  spirit  Fanio! 
What  in  life  once  gave  me  bliss, 
Pleases  me  as  much  as  this; 
And  I  think  that  thanks  are  due 
Unto  me  (or  helping  you!"' 


As  Faunus  had  Silvanus  for  his  double,  so  Fanio  has  Silvanio,  who 
is  good-natured,  but  very  sensitive  to  offence.  He  is  the  special  bogey 
of  the  charcoal-burners,  whose  piles  of  wood  he  scatters  when  moved 
by  caprice  so  to  do. 

The  Lassi,  or  Lassie,  as  spirits  of  ancestors  who  are  heard  or  seen 
in  a  house  after  the  death  of  a  member  of  the  family,  must  surely 
be  in  origin  the  Lares  (the  Lasa  of  the  Arval  Brethren).  They  are 
regarded  as  both  male  and  female.  Larunda,  the  mythical  mother 
of  the  Lares  Compitales,  is  now  Laronda,  the  spirit  of  the  barracks, 
who  manifests  a  special  fondness  for  soldiers. 

The  two  peculiarly  Etruscan  divinities,  Tages  and  Begoe,  reappear 
in  Tago  and  Bergoia.  Tago,  who  remains  a  spirito  bambino  and  is 
invoked  to  bring  healing  to  afflicted  children,  is  said  to  emerge  from 
the  ground  at  times  and  predict  the  future.  Bergoia  retains  Begoe's 
power  over  the  thunder  and  the  lightning,  but  seems  to  have  lost  her 
gift  of  augury,  although  this  diminution  of  her  power  is  offset  by 
her  ability  to  assume  human  form  and  thus  mingle  with  men  and 
women. 


3i8         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 

Of  the  deities  which  to  the  ancient  Romans  were  franlcly  Greek 
a  few  arc  still  found  in  forms  not  difficult  to  recognize.  Aplu  (cf. 
the  Etruscan  Aplu,  Aplun,  Apulu)  possesses  not  only  traits  of  his 
original,  Apollo,  but  also  some  borrowed  from  Artemis.  "Aplu  is 
the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  male  spirits.  He  is  also  a  spirit  of  music, 
and  when  any  one  would  become  a  good  hunter,  or  good  musician, 
or  a  learned  man  —  un  uomo  dotto  e  di  lalento  —  he  should  repeat 
this: 

'Arlu,  Aplu,  Aplu! 
Thou  who  art  so  pood  and  wise, 
So  learned  and  talented, 
.•\plu,  Aplu,  .\plu! 
Tliou  who  art  so  pood 
.\nd  tlirouph  all  the  world  renowned; 
And  spoken  of  hy  all, 
Aplu,  Aplu,  Aplu! 
Even  a  spirit  sliould  be  generous, 
Granting  us  fortune  and  talent. 
Aplu,  Aplu,  Aplu! 
I  (therefore)  pray  thee  give  me 
Fortuue  and  talent!'"' 


The  knavish  and  nimble  Mercurius  is  represc;  ed  in  the  Roma- 
gnola  by  Tcramo  (Etruscan  Turms).  He  is  not  only  notorious  as  a 
deceiver  of  innocent  maidens,  but  is  also  —  and  primarily  —  the 
friend  of  thieves,  traders,  and  messengers;  in  fact,  he  is  himself  a 
spirito  messagiero  who  can  flit  with  news  from  place  to  place  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye.  A  constant  companion  of  his,  Boschet  by  name, 
mav  be  in  origin  a  form  of  Apollo. 

The  spirit  of  the  vines  is  no  longer  Liber,  but  Faflon  (Etruscan 
Fufluns,  Fuflunu),  who  is  probably  the  equivalent  of  Dionysos. 
At  the  vintage  he  often  scatters  the  gathered  grapes,  and  if  the 
vintagers  become  angry  at  his  pranks,  he  utterly  destroys  the  fruit; 
but  if  they  take  his  mischief  good-naturedly,  he  puts  the  grapes 
back  in  the  baskets.  Leland  thus  renders  into  English  a  prayer 
offered  to  Faflon  for  a  good  vintage: 

'•Faflon,  Faflon,  FafJon! 
Oh,  listen  to  my  prayer. 
I  have  a  scanty  vintape. 
My  vines  this  year  are  bare; 
Oh,  listen  to  my  prayer! 
And  put,  since  thou  canst  do  so, 
A  better  vintage  there! 


APPENDIX 

"Fafion,  Faflon,  Faflon! 
Oh,  listen  to  my  prayer! 
May  all  the  wine  in  my  cellar 
Prove  to  be  strong  and  rare. 
And  pood  as  any  grown, 
Faflon,  Faflon,  Faflon!"' 


319 


Pano,  undoubtedly  the  ancient  Pan,  is  a  whimsical  spirit  who 
favours  the  crops  in  their  growth,  or,  if  so  minded,  beats  them  down 
with  a  high  wind, 

Orcus,  of  the  nether  world,  now  lives  in  the  person  of  Oreo,  who, 
in  the  thought  of  the  people,  was  once  a  great  wizard. 

The  functions  and  attributes  of  the  goddesses  of  the  old  mythology- 
have  become  much  attenuated  in  the  gradual  process  of  transmission 
to  their  modern  descendants.  Esta  is  surely  V'esta,  although  her  of- 
fice is  the  converse  of  that  of  her  original,  for  "when  a  light  is  sud- 
denly and  mysteriously  extinguished  or  goes  out  apparently  of  its 
own  accord,  especially  when  two  lovers  are  sitting  together,  it  is 
commonly  said  in  jest  that  'Esta  did  it.'"' 

Through  their  kinship  with  Hekate,  Diana  and  Artemis  (the  latter 
under  the  amplified  epithet  of  Artemisia)  have  entirely  gone  over  to 
the  realm  of  witchcraft  and  goblinism,  the  first  being  now  more  po- 
tent for  evil  than  Satan  himself,  while  the  second  has  become  a  vam- 
pire who  sucks  the  blood  of  the  newly  buried  dead. 

The  combined  functions  of  Aphrodite,  Venus,  Mater  Matuta, 
and  Aurora  (Eos)  are  represented  by  a  group  of  divinities  who  can- 
not easily  be  distinguished  except  in  name,  and  even  in  this  respect 
there  is  a  certain  overlapping.  They  are  Turanna  (Etruscan  Turan), 
apparently  to  be  connected  historically  with  Teramo  (cf.  the  asso- 
ciation of  Aphrodite  and  Hermes),  Tesana  (Etruscan  Thesan), 
Alpena  (Etruscan  Alpan),  Albina,  and  La  Bella  Marta  (Mater 
Matuta).  Exceptional  beauty,  connexion  with  the  dawn,  and  in- 
terest in  human  love  characterize  them  all  in  varying  degrees. 

Floria  presents  in  her  single  person  a  contamination  of  Flora  and 
Pomona.  None  of  the  goddesses  has  changed  less  than  Carmenta, 
for  under  her  ancient  name  she  is  still  besought  to  grant  motherhood 
to  the  barren  and  to  render  aid  in  child-birth.  Feronia  is  generally 
regarded  by  mythologists  as  being  originally  a  spring-nymph,  but 
now  the  people  of  the  Romagnola  conceive  her  as  a  spirit  who  wan- 
ders about  the  country  in  disguise  and  who  haunts  market  places. 
To  those  who  receive  her  hospitably  she  is  kind  and  generous,  but 
those  who  neglect  her  she  requites  by  casting  evil  spells  on  their 
children  and  domestic  animals,  this  belief  being  very  possibly  based 
on  conceptions  of  Feronia  which  have  failed  to  find  their  way  into 


320         GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLCXSY 

the  ancient  literature.  Indeed,  it  may  well  be  that  many,  or  even 
most,  of  the  traits  of  the  divinities  whom  Leland  has  rescued  from 
oblivion  were  possessions  of  these  same  divinities  as  they  lived  in 
the  religious  fancy  of  the  common  people  of  ancient  Rome  and 
Italy. 


NOTES 

The  complete  titles  and  descriptions  of  the  works  cited  in  the  Notes  will  be  found 
in  the  Bibliopraphy. 

INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GREEK  MYTHS 

1.  Cf.  \V.  G.  Sumner,  Folkways,  Boston,  1907,  passim. 

2.  For  extended  discussions  of  the  nature  and  development  of  prim- 
itive relipion  special  recommendation  may  be  made  of  Marctt,  The 
Threshold  of  Religion ;  Kinjr,  The  Detelopment  of  Religion  ;  S.  A.  Cook, 
"The  Evolution  of  Primitive  Thought,"  in  Essays  and  Studies  pre- 
sented to  William  Ridgru-ay,  pp.  375  ff. 

3.  Gruppe,  Gr.  Myth.,  p.  io6i ;  cf.  .\.  B.  Cook,  Zeus,  i.  <;-i4. 

4.  Murray,  Four  Stages  of  Gr.  Rei,  p.  99. 

5.  Gruppe,  p.  989. 

6.  S.  A.  Cook,  The  Found,  of  Rel.,  p.  17. 

7.  Republic,  377A  ff. 

8.  11.  451  ff. 

9.  The  question  whether  Homer  was  one  or  many  does  not  affect 
the  influence  of  the  Homeric  poems. 

10.  Amores,  III.  vi.  17-1S  (as  translated  by  E.  K.  Rand,  in  Harvard 
Essays  on  Classical  Subjects,  Boston,  1912). 

11.  Lang,  Custom  and  Myth,  p.  21. 


PART  I 
Chapter  I 

1.  Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  vii.  211-12. 

2.  F.  Solmsen,  in  Indogermanische  Forschungen,  xxx.  35,  note  i 
(1912),  claims  ancient  lexical  authority  for  regarding  the  name  Titi7«' 
as  an  early  Greek  word  for  "  king."  A.  B.  Cook  (Zeus,  i.  655)  accepts 
the  explanation.  While  the  present  writer  is  ready  to  admit  that  the 
word  once  had  this  meaning,  he  is  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that  in 
origin  it  was  non-Greek,  possibly  Semitic. 

3.  E.  S.  Bouchier,  Life  and  Letters  in  Roman  Africa,  Oxford,  1913, 
p.  82. 

I  — 2S 


324         GREKK  AND  ROMAN   MVTH0L(X;Y 

4.  Miltnn,  Paradise  Los!,  vi.  211-14. 

1;.   Preface  to  the  Promelhfus  Unbound. 
<).  Priimiihrus  L  nbounJ,  Act  i. 

7.  A.  B.  Cook  (Zeus,  i.  325-30)  rcfjards  Prometheus  as  essentially 
a  jioil  of  tire. 

5.  It  is  nicire  in  accord  with  Pandora's  orif:in  as  a  form  of  the  Earth 
(ioddcss  to  interpret  her  name  as  meanir',  " All-(iiviii^'." 

<).   Kuripides,  Iphi^eiif'  \  in  Taitris,  11.  414-15  (translated  by  Gilbert 
Murray,  New  York,  1915). 

10.  Strictl)',  Xaoi  means  the  subjects  of  a  prince. 


Chapter  II 

1.  Gruppc,  pp.  918-20,  suggests  that  this  myth  is  based  on  the 
belief  that  a  man  who  had  offered  a  human  sacrifice  and  made  himself 
one  with  the  pod  by  partaking  of  human  flesh  was  himself  a  wolf, 
i.  e.  he  was  banished  from  the  society  of  men  and  became  a  wanderer 
like  a  wolf.  The  similar  but  much  more  penetrating  explanation  of- 
fered by  \.  B.  Cook  (Zeus,  i.  70-Si)  is  too  elaborate  and  detailed  to 
be  even  summarized  here. 

2.  Description  of  Greece,  VIII.  xxviii.  6. 

3.  This  cannot  be  the  flower  which  we  know  as  the  hyacinth. 

4.  Stephen  Phillips,  "  Marpessa,"  in  Poems,  London  and  New  York, 
1S9S,  pp.  26-29. 

5.  Friedliindcr,  .■irg.,  pp.  5  flF.;  Gruppe,  pp.  168  flF. 
f).  Sec  infra,  p.  193. 

7.  The  name  of  the  Kimmerian  (i.  e.  Crimean)  Bosporos  was  sim- 
ilarly explained.  As  far  as  the  Thracian  strait  is  concerned  the  deri- 
vation is  wrong.  Bocriropos  is  really  a  dialectical  form  of  ^u(r<j>6pos 
("Light-Bearer"),  a  title  of  Hekate. 

8.  .\.  11.  Sa\ce  (The  Religions  of  /indent  Egypt  and  Babylonia, 
Edinburgh,  1903,  p.  55)  derives  Aigyptos  from  Ha-ka-Ptah  "the 
temple  of  the  ka  of  Plah,''  the  sacred  name  of  the  city  of  Memphis. 
In  the  Tell  el-Amama  letters  this  is  Khikuptakh. 

9.  See  Gruppe,  pp.  831-32;  Eriedliinder,  pp.  15-16,  25-30.  "If  we 
may  trust  Eustathius,  it  was  the  custom  to  place  'on  the  grave  of 
those  who  died  unmarried  a  water  jar  called  Loutrophoros  in  token 
that  the  dead  had  died  unbathed  and  without  offspring.'  Probably 
these  vases,  as  Dr.  Frazer  suggests  [i.  e.  on  Pausanias  X.  xxxi.  9],  were 
at  first  placed  on  the  graves  of  the  unmarried  with  the  kindly  intent  of 
helping  the  desolate  unmarried  ghost  to  accomplish  his  wedding  in  the 
world  below.  But  once  the  custom  fixed,  it  might  easily  be  interpreted 
as  the  symbol  of  an  underworld  punishment"  (Harrison,  Prolego- 
mena, p.  621). 


NOTES 


32s 


10.  See  Fricdl  indcr,  pp.  3<'>  37. 

11.  In  other  versions  the  weapon  employed  by  Perseus  was  a  stone, 
or  a  ssvord,  or  hi-,  ^cimitar  (sitkle-svvurd). 

12.  The  story  of  I'erscus  in  its  iKarin^s  on  primitive  folk-tale  and 
rcii^^'i'.n  is  exhaustively  treated  by  \:.  S.  Hartland,  Legend  of  Perseus, 
3  vols,,  London,  iSi>4-</). 

13.  Ilomtr,  Odyssey,  xi.  593-600  (translated  by  S.  H.  Butcher  and 
A.  Lan^,  London,  i</x»). 

14.  Kick  {llattidi-n  und  Danubier  in  Griechenland,  pp.  43  ff.)  suggests 
that  the  name  anl  person  of  Sis>  phos  are  derived  from  Tisup  (or 
I'ishub,  Teshub),  tlie  principal  male  deity  of  the  Iliititcs  so  often 

depicted  on  their  monuments. 

15.  For  a  similar  .story  see  that  of  Kyknos  and  Tennes  in  Pausanias, 
X.  xiv. 

16.  One  is  probably  nearer  the  truth  in  connecting  it  with  rrjyoi 
(cl.  ^rT|yl/v^tl),  "strong." 

Chapter  III 

1.  Christopher  Marlowe,  Didn,  Act  IL 

2.  For  a  discussion  of  the  problems  involved  consult  T.  G.  Tucker, 
Aeschylus,  The  Sczen  against  Thebes,  Cambridge,  1908,  Introd.; 
(lomme,  "The  Legend  of  Cadmus,"  etc.;  and  "The  Topography  of 
Boeotia,"  etc. 

3.  For  the  story  of  Aktaion  see  infra,  p.  252;  of  Ino,  p.  262;  of 
Scmele  and  Dionysr^    p.  nj. 

4.  Sophokles,  Oidipous  Kolnneus,  11.  161 1  fT.  (translated  by  E.  H. 
Plumptre,  Boston,  1906). 

5.  Allinson,  Greek  Lands  and  Letters,  p.  332. 

6.  Cf.  Tucker,  pp.  xxxiv-xxxvii;  Allinson,  p.  292. 

7.  Homer,  Iliad,  ix.  57    <y). 


Chapter  IV 

1.  "In  Cretan  myth  the  sun  was  conceived  as  a  bull.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  Cretan  ritual  the  1  .hyrinth  was  an  orchestra  of  solar  pattern 
presumably  made  for  a  mimetic  dance.  ...  It  would  seem  highly 
probable  that  the  dancer  imitating  the  sun  masqueraded  in  the  Laby- 
rinth a<  a  bull"  (.\.  B.  Cook,  Zeus,  i.  \()0-<)i). 

2.  Pausania     II.  iv.  5  (translated  by  J.  G.  Frazer). 

3.  Miss  Harris,  a  (Myth,  and  Mon.,  pp.  xxxiii,  xxxv)  advances  the 
very  probable  suggestion  that  this  story  is  primarily  aetiological  in 
character,  being  intended  a  an  explanation  of  the  ritual  of  the  Arre- 
phoria  (or  Hersepht  ,  ia).  'I  .ic  fate  of  the  disobedient  sisters  is  a  detail 


326         (.Rl.l.K   AND    ROMAN    MVTIIOI.OC.V 

;ukli'.l  for  till-  purpose  of  friKhii'iiitij:  iiiiciatitij;  maidens  into  strict 
ol'MTvaiKi-  of  the  rules  jfovernin^r  the  ritual. 

4.  Am-ther  it\  tiKilokry  derives  liie  wurd  from  apijv  jrA7ot,  "hill  of 
curses";  cf.  pp.  loi,  lS'>. 

5.  I.   XXX.    }. 

CUM'TKR    \' 

1.  Fir  the  development  of  Herakles  as  a  mythological  character 

sec  e^petiail)-  I'riedi.inder,  Hernkii's. 

2.  xix.  i)0   M 3. 

^  The  order  of  the  labours  which  we  shall  follow  is  that  ^iven  by 

Apoliodoro>. 

4.  For  discus. ions  of  the  identity  and  character  of  tlie  .Xmazons  sec 
especially  the  articles  by  Adolphc  Reinach  listed  in  the  Bibliography. 

5.  Pindar,  Olympian  (hits,  xi.  (x.)  44  tT. 

ClIAITLR    \il 

1.  Apolloiiios  of  Rhodes,  Argonautikti,  i.  1 13-14. 

2.  ib.  i.  544  45. 

3.  ib.  ii.  -J')  So. 

4.  The  writer  is  tempted,  in  agreement  with  A.  B.  Cook  {Zeus,  1. 
723-24),  to  see  in  the  person  of  Tabs  a  reference  to  the  cire  perdue 
method  of  hoUuw-casling  in  bronze. 


Chapter  VIII 

1.  A.  B.  Cook  iZeus,  i.  414-19)  is  stronv'iy  inclined  to  believe  that 
both  this  golden  lamb  and  the  golden  ram  of  I'hrixos  are  epiphanies 

of  Zeus. 

2.  The  most  accessible  collection  of  the  fragments  and  ancient  sum- 
maries of  the  Cvclic  Kpics  is  to  be  found  in  the  Srriptorum  Classicorum. 
Bibliotheca  Oxoniensis,  Uomeri  Opera,  v.  (Oxford,  1911).  The  frag- 
ment of  the  kypria  just  quoted  appears  on  p.  llH. 

3.  I-luripides,  Trojan  Women,  11.  892-93  (translated  by  Gilbert 
Murray,  New  York,  1915). 

4.  ib.  11.  924-33- 

5.  Euripides,   I phigeneia  in    Tauris,  I.   15   (translated    by  Gilbert 

Murrav). 

(,.  i.  52  (translated  by  A.  Lanj;,  W.  Leaf,  and  E.  Myers,  London, 

1907). 

7.  vi.  4S6  89  (translated  by  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myers). 

8.  xix.  67-70  (translated  by  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myers). 

9.  See  Oxford  text  of  Homer,  v.  pp.  125-27. 


NOTF.S 


3^7 


10.  Sec  Oxford  tixt  of  Ur)mcr,  v.  pp.  127  40. 

11.  Kuripiiles,  Tmjan   ll'omen,  II.  11^061   (translated  by  Gilbert 
Murray). 

12.  ib.  1.  75  (translated  by  Gilbert  Murray). 

13.  Oxford  text  I  if  lloHR-r,  v.  140  43. 

14.  Aischylos  scorns  to  have  made  .Arjros  anil  not  Mykenai  the  scene 
of  the  Ag,amfmnon  in  order  to  please  the  Arrive  allies  of  .Athens. 

11;.   F.uripidcs,  Iphigeneia  in  Tauris,  II.  79  ff.  (translated  by  Gilbert 
Murray). 

If).  Tennyson,  The  Lotns-Eatfrs. 

17.  Oxford  text  of  Homer,  v.  143-44. 


i 


Chapter  IX 

1.  Euripides,  Trojan  Women,  II.  632-33  (translated  by  Gilbert 
Murray). 

2.  Swinburne,  Atalanta  in  Calydon. 

3.  It  was  customary  to  explain  as  Charon's  fee  the  obol  which  the 
Greeks  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  corpse,  but  the  account  is  plainly 
aetiological,  for  the  custom  is  really  a  survival  of  the  belief  that  the 
metal  of  the  coin  had  power  to  avert  evil  influences.  Allegorically 
the  obol  mipht  be  interpreted  as  a  ferry  fare. 

4.  Can  the  howling  of  the  wind  at  the  cavernous  entrances  to  the 
underworld  have  helped  in  giving  rise  to  the  canine  conception  of 
Kerberos? 

5.  Pausanias,  III.  xxv.  5. 

6.  "The  mythical  Ixion,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  typifies  a  whole  series 
of  human  Ixions,  who  in  bygone  ages  were  done  to  death  as  effete  em- 
bodiments of  the  sun-god"  (A.  B.  Cook,  Zeus,  i.  21 1).  By  this  argu- 
ment the  wheel  is  the  circle  of  the  sun. 

7.  "Men  say  that  he  by  the  music  of  his  songs  charmed  the  stub- 
born rocks  upon  the  mountains  and  the  course  of  rivers.  And  the  wild 
oak-trees  to  this  day,  tokens  of  that  magic  strain,  that  grow  at  Zone 
on  the  Thracian  shore,  stand  in  ordered  ranks  close  together,  the  same 
which  under  the  charm  of  his  lyre  he  led  down  from  Pieria"  (Apollo- 
nios  of  Rhodes,  Argonautika,  i.  25-31,  translated  by  R.  C.  Seaton, 
London  and  New  York,  1912). 

8.  Ovid,  Metamorphoses,  x.  41  tl.  (modified  translation). 

9.  Homer,  Odyssey,  iv.  563-68  (translated  by  Butcher  and  Lang). 


3:^8 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  MYTHOLOGY 


PART  II 


Chapter  I 

1.  Cruppc,  p.  II02. 

2.  See  A.  B.  Cook,  Zeus,  i.  i-S. 

3.  In  liinc  this  process  of  generalizing  the  personal  characteristics 
of  the  pods  practically  .  .utraiizeJ  all  other  processus  of  their  devel- 
opment. 

4.  I  Icra's  pfiucr  in  this  sphere  was  doubtless  derived  from  her  union 
with  Zeus,  while  that  of  Poseidon  came  from  his  traditional  association 
with  the  sea. 

5.  The  unqualified  use  of  the  epithet  'OXvuwioi  in  Homer  invariably 
desi^'nates  Zeus. 

6.  Porphyries,  Life  of  Pythagoras,  17;  cf.  Tatian,  FTpis  "EXXijvaj, 
27  (.\Iij;ne,  Patrologia  Graeca,  vi.  S65). 

7.  .Most  of  these  mythical  niarriaj.'es  can  probably  be  explained  as 
attempts  to  secure  sanction  for  the  recognition  of  Zeus  in  localities 
into  which  he  was  newly  introduced  and  in  which  the  chief  native 
divinity  was  a  goddess.  The  identification  of  the  new  god  as  the 
husband  of  the  old  goddess  immediately  gave  the  former  a  standing 
with  the  local  worshipper. 

S.  Idylls,  iv.  43:  cf.  xvii.  7S. 

9.  Only  in  this  sense  can  he  be  regarded  as  the  Creator;  in  the 
Orphic  philosophy  he  was  life  itself. 

10.  This  school  would  see  the  same  earth  goddess  in  the  original  of 
the  Kleusinian  Demeter.  P'or  a  discussion  of  the  problem  see  Farnell, 
Cults,  i.  i<)2,  and  The  Higher  Aspects,  etc.,  p.  14. 

11.  A.  B.  Cook,  "Who  was  the  Wife  of  Zeus.'"  in  CR  .xx.  365-78, 
416-19  (l</)6). 

Ch.vpter  11 

1.  If  this  derivation  is  correct,  it  may  possibly  go  back  to  a  myth 
which  set  forth  one  or  other  of  these  characteristics  of  Athene. 

2.  Homeric  Hymn  to  Athene,  xxviii.  9-16. 

3.  Murijiides,  Trojan  IVomen,  11.  801-02  (translated  by  Gilbert 
MurrayJ. 

Chapter  III 

1.  Homeric  Hymns,  iii. 

2.  Cf.  TiSfaOai,  "to  become  rotten,  to  rot." 

3.  See  Swindler,  Cretan  Elements,  etc. 

4.  Through  its  famous  enigmatic  reference  to  wooden  walls,  which 
Themistoklcs  interpreted  to  mean  ships,  the  oracle  foretold  the  suc- 
cessful defence  of  Greece  against  the  Persians. 


NOTES 


329 


5.  The  statement  that  Apollo  "is  the  solar  word  of  Zeus  conceived 
as  the  eternal  and  infinite  god  and  through  him  the  revealer  of  the  ar- 
chetypes of  things"  (Schure,  "Le  Miracle  hellenique.  L'Apollon  de 
Dclphes  et  la  Pythonisse,"  in  Revue  des  deux  Mondes,  6th  per.  vii. 
344-45  [191 2])  ignores  the  progressive  development  of  Apollo  from  a 
simple  to  a  complex  personality. 

6.  Occasionally  Artemis  was  a  goddess  of  counsel,  that  is  to  say, 
of  health  of  mind,  an  extension  of  her  function  as  tl.e  goddess  of  health 
of  body. 

7.  Hekate's  association  with  sorcery  is  ample  explanation  of  the 
fact  that  she  figured  more  prominently  in  private  than  in  public  cult. 

Chapter  IV 

I.  The  same  kind  of  magical  imprisonment  seems  here  to  be  in- 
volved as  that  to  which  the  genie  was  subjected  in  the  story  of  Alad- 
din and  the  Wonderful  Lamp. 


Chapter  V 

1.  This  was  presented  by  Professor  A.  L.  Frothingham  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America  at  its  annual  meet- 
ing held  at  Haverford  College,  Dec.  1914.  So  far  as  the  present  writer 
knows,  the  paper  is  not  yet  in  print. 

2.  Shelley's  translation  of  the  Homeric  Hymn  to  Hermes,  ix. 

3.  ib.  xlv. 

4.  ib.  xcvii. 

5.  The  union  of  Hermes  with  both  Herse  and  Pandrosos  in  Attic 
legend  probably  signifies  that  at  least  in  Athens  he  had  a  connexion 
with  certain  phases  of  the  weather,  but  such  an  association  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  general. 

Chapter  VI 

1.  Since  the  manuscript  has  left  the  author's  hands  he  has  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  Farnell  is  right  in  regarding  the  name  as  wholly 
foreign.  In  the  forthcoming  volume  of  the  Transaaiors  and  Proceed- 
ings oj  the  American  Philological  Association  the  writer  presents  a  pre- 
liminary statement  of  what  he  believes  to  be  the  correct  derivation, 
and  later  he  hopes  to  publish  an  article  supporting  the  etymology  in 
detail. 

2.  The  affinity  is  due  to  Aphrodite's  primitive  connexion  with  vege- 
tation. 

3.  The  matter-of-fact  mind  can  easily  detect  an  overlapping  of  the 


330 


(U^KKK   AND   ROMAN    MYTHOLOGY 


functions  of  Aphrtniitc  on  those  of  other  divinities  of  fertility,  ^'ot 
this  need  disturb  no  one,  for  the  (Ireek  jrods  were  not  mechanical 
creations.  To  insist  upon  a  precise  ditTerentiation  among  the  Greek 
divinities  is  to  miss  the  (irceks"  religious  point  of  view  and  to  be 
insensitive  to  the  myth-making  spirit. 

4.  .\.  l.ang,  'I'hf  St'u-  I'ygmalioii. 

V  In  philosopiiical  circles  the  epithets  Ourania  and  Pandcmos  were 
thought  to  signif}'  the  relations  of  Aphrodite  to  pure  celes'ial  love  and 
degrading  sensuality  respectively;  and  common  knowledge  of  the 
licentious  character  of  certain  rites  of  the  goddess  gave  colour  to  this 
interpretation  of  the  second  epithet. 


Cil.\PTER    VII 

1.  Iliad,  i.  591  fT, 

2.  Murray,  Four  Stages  of  Gr.  Rel.,  p.  66. 
V  xxiv. 

4.  v.  21  tr. 

Chapter  \'III 

1.  See  Blinkenberg,  The  Thunderzveapon;  Powell,  Erichthonius  and 
the  Three  Daughters  of  Cecrops,  p.  12. 

2.  'Ihe  tidal  wave  which  submerged  Helike  in  the  fourth  century 
B.C.  was  regarded  as  a  tlemonstration  of  Poseidon's  power. 

3.  If  the  name  of  Poseidon's  son  Hoiotos  means  anything  at  all  in 
this  Connexion,  it  implies  that  Poseidon  was  in  the  form  of  a  bull 
when  he  begat  this  son. 


Chapter  IX 

1.  Iliad,  \'\.  130  ff.  (translated  b\'  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myers). 

2.  See  infra,  p.  221. 

V  This  myth  cijntains  unmistakable  e\  idence  of  human  sacrifice 
in  certain  of  the  earlier  Dionysiac  rites. 

4-   vii. 

5.  It  is  still  a  moot  point  whether  the  appearance  of  the  ship  in  this 
nnth  of  Dion\sc;S  reflects  the  influence  of  certain  Oriental  vegetat'on- 
ritcs  in  which  a  ship  was  a  prominent  feature. 

('.   See  infra,  p.  224. 

7.  The  use  of  the  phallic  emblem  in  the  riles  of  Demetcr  to  arouse 
fertilit\  in  the  earth  was  one  of  a  number  of  factors  in  bringing  about 
an  association  of  Demeter  and  Dionysos. 

S.  To  regard  Dionysos  uni.)uali(iedly  as  a  rain-god  is  to  exaggerate 
the  influence  of  Osiris  on  his  development. 

t).  Euripides,  Bacchai,  II.  379-Si. 


NOTES 


331 


Chapter  X 

1.  Theogony,  11.  069  ff. 

2.  Whether  Demcter  was  oripinally  connected  with  these  rites  or 
whether  thty  were  a  product  of  sympathetic  magic  primarily  unre- 
lated to  any  divinity,  it  is  clear  that  during  the  height  of  the  Demcter- 
cuit  the  woman  was  the  representative  of  the  goddess. 

3.  Demeter's  power  to  fructify  human  beings  was  the  thought 
underlying  the  ceremonies  of  the  Thesmophoria,  a  festival  in  which 
only  matrons  of  good  civic  standing  took  part. 

4.  See  Homeric  Hymns,  ii. 

5.  For  the  invocation  of  Hades  (or  Plouton)  in  curses  see  A.  Audol- 
lent,  Tabellae  Defixionum,  Paris,  1904,  Index,  pp.  461  ff. 


Chapter  XI 

1.  Odes,  I.  iv.  5-8  (translated  by  J.  Conington,  London,  1909). 

2.  Farnell,  Cults,  v.  434. 

3.  In  Memoriam,  v.  5-6. 

4.  "In  early  days  the  Muses  were  to  Zeus  what  the  mountain- 
roaming  Maenads  were  to  Dionysos"  (A.  B.  Cook,  Zeus,  i.  in).  J. 
W'ackernagel  {Zeitschrift  fiir  vergleichende  Sprachjorschung,  xxxiii. 
571-74  [1895])  expresses  his  belief  that  the  relation  of  the  Muses  to 
mountains  was  original,  and  accordingly  he  would  trace  their  name 
back  to  *tjLOVT-,  "  mountain." 

5.  V.  202  ff. 

6.  Those  who  see  in  the  fall  of  Phaethon  and  his  car  the  sun's  ap- 
proach to  earth  at  sunset  ignore  those  details  of  the  myth  which  em- 
phasize the  effect  of  the  sun's  heat. 

7.  l'"or  the  most  recent  discussions  of  the  Dioskouroi  consult  A.  B. 
Cook,  Zeus,  i.  760  ff.,  and  Harris,  Boane,ges. 

8.  In  the  clear  air  of  the  cast  \enus  shines  so  brightly  as  to  cast 
a  faint  shadow  and  to  render  her  successive  phases  visible  to  the  naked 
eye. 

9.  The  stars  of  this  group  seemed  to  outline  the  figure  of  a  man 
driving  a  yoke  of  oxen  in  the  (Ireat  Wain.  It  is  difficult  for  us  modern 
city-dwellers,  who  seldom  really  see  the  stars  and  for  whom  they  have 
little  or  no  practical  significance,  to  understand  how  the  Greeks  and 
their  neighbours  could  find  a  world  of  living  creatures  in  the  night 
heavens. 

Chapter  XII 

1.  I.  xxxiii.  4. 

2.  Swinburne,  Aialanta  in  Calydon. 

3.  Homer,  Odyssey,  i.  52-54. 


332         GREEK  AND   ROMAN  .\nTHOLOGY 

4.  This  association  of  Proteus  with  Egypt  is  secondary;  his  native 
habitat  seems  to  have  been  Chalkis. 

5.  Homer,  Odyssey,  xii.  3<>-54- 

6.  Theogony,  1.  871. 

7.  A.  E.  Zimmern,  The  Greek  Commonwealth,  Oxford,  1911,  p.  35. 

8.  Odes,  I.  iii.  14. 

9.  A.  B.  Coolc  {Zeus,  i.  302  ff.)  holds  the  one-eyed  Kyiclopes  to  be 
monstrous  incarnations  of  the  disk  of  the  sun. 

10.  Homeric  Hymns,  xix.  6^-21. 

Chapter  XIII 

1.  Charles  L.  O'Donnell,  Ode  for  Panama  Day. 

2.  iv.  10;  see  also  vs.  1 1. 

3.  Euripides,  Iphigeneia  in  Tauris,  11.  285-91  (translated  by  Gilbert 
Murray). 

Chapter  XIV 

1.  II.  xxvi.  4-5  (translated  by  Frazer,  1st  ed.). 

2.  On  this  rite  see  L.  Deubner,  De  incuhatione,  Leipzig,  1900,  and 
Marv  Hamilton,  Incubation,  London,  1906. 

3.  So  in  Hesiod,  Theogony,  1.  904;  but  ib.  1.  217  they  are  the  daugh- 
ters of  Nyx. 

4.  So  Usenet,  Gotternamen,  p.  371.  A.  B.  Cook  (Zeus,  i.  273),  how- 
ever, holds  Nemesis,  like  Diana,  to  have  been  first  of  all  a  goddess  of 
the  greenwood  (cf.  vktios,  "glade,"  viiitiv,  "to  pasture"). 

5.  Swinburne,  Atalanta  in  Calydon. 


PART  III 

1.  It  has  long  been  the  practice  to  assume  that  virtually  all  Italic 
myths  were  corruptions  or  adaptations  of  Greek  myths.  Now,  how- 
ever, there  is  a  growing  tendency  to  account  for  them  as  independent 
products  of  Italian  religious  experience.  See  especially  Ettore  Pais, 
Ancient  Legends,  etc. 

2.  De  Rerum  Natura,  v.  655-56. 

3.  King,  Devel.  of  ReL,  p.  130. 


1.  p.  27. 

2.  Lawson.  p.  75. 

3.  ib.  p.  43. 


APPENDIX 

4.  ib.  pp.  132-33- 

5.  ib.  pp.  77-78. 

6.  Lcland,  p.  loi. 


7.  ib.  pp.  37-38. 

8.  ib.  p.  (»■). 

9.  ib.  p.  61. 


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1  —  26 


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^     APPLIED  tM^OR     Inc 


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